Older adults with suspected coronary artery disease experience fewer major procedure-related complications when screened with CT before invasive coronary angiography, a study shows.

At the same time, the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) was similar among those undergoing either imaging modality, German-led researchers say.

Their results, presented at the European Congress of Radiology last week, have confirmed CT as a safe and viable alternative for diagnosing obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), the researchers say.

In the multi-centre, randomised DISCHARGE (Diagnostic Imaging Strategies for Patients with Stable Chest Pain and Intermediate Risk of Coronary Artery Disease) trial, researchers compared CT with invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as an initial imaging strategy.