AHA/ACC 2021 Chest Pain

2021 AHA/ACC/ASE/CHEST/SAEM/SCCT/SCMR Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain

The ESC has no stand-alone chest-pain guideline — the topic is folded into the chronic coronary syndrome document — which makes this the reference text on both sides of the Atlantic for the diagnostic pathway itself. It retires the word 'atypical' in favour of 'cardiac, possible cardiac or non-cardiac', makes high-sensitivity troponin within a structured clinical decision pathway the preferred rule-out, and puts coronary CT angiography first-line in intermediate-risk patients without known coronary disease, with FFR-CT for intermediate stenoses. Deliberately, it also states where no testing is needed at all. The register's imaging and downstream-management trials are grouped below.

This guideline cites 6 of the 199 landmark trials in our Cardiology register.

Source
Gulati M, Levy PD, et al. Circulation. 2021;144(22):e368–e454.

Anatomical testing — coronary CT angiography1

  • 2018SCOT-HEARTCardiology · Coronary · CT coronary angiographyScottish COmputed Tomography of the HEART trial

Physiological assessment of stenoses (FFR / FFR-CT)2

  • 2012FAME 2Cardiology · Coronary · FFR-guided PCIFractional flow reserve versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation 2
  • 2009FAMECardiology · Coronary · RevascularisationFractional Flow Reserve versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation

What follows the diagnosis — revascularisation vs. medical therapy3

  • 2020ISCHEMIACardiology · Coronary · RevascularisationInternational Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches
  • 2018ORBITACardiology · Coronary · RevascularisationObjective Randomised Blinded Investigation with optimal medical Therapy of Angioplasty
  • 2007COURAGECardiology · Coronary · RevascularisationClinical Outcomes Utilising Revascularisation and Aggressive Drug Evaluation

Published since the guideline1

  • 2023ORBITA-2Cardiology · Coronary · RevascularisationA Placebo-Controlled Trial of PCI for Stable Angina