RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 CT coronary angiography and COVID-19: inpatient use in acute chest pain service JF Open Heart JO Open Heart FD British Cardiovascular Society SP e001548 DO 10.1136/openhrt-2020-001548 VO 8 IS 1 A1 Michael Cronin A1 Peter Wheen A1 Richard Armstrong A1 Rajesh Kumar A1 Alannah McMahon A1 Max White A1 Niall Sheehy A1 Geraldine McMahon A1 Ross T Murphy A1 Caroline Daly YR 2021 UL http://openheart.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001548.abstract AB Objectives CT coronary angiography (CTCA) is a well-validated clinical tool in the evaluation of chest pain. In our institution, CTCA availability was increased in January 2020, and subsequently, expanded further to replace all exercise testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective was to assess the impact of increased utilisation of CTCA on length of stay in patients presenting with chest pain in the prepandemic era and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods Study design was retrospective. Patients referred for cardiology review between October 2019 and May 2020 with chest pain and/or dyspnoea were broken into three cohorts: a baseline cohort, a cohort with increased CTCA availability and a cohort with increased CTCA availability, but after the national lockdown due to COVID-19. Coronary angiography and revascularisation, length of stay and 30-day adverse outcomes were assessed.Results 513 patients (35.3% female) presented over cohorts 1 (n=179), 2 (n=182), and 3 (n=153). CTCA use increased from 7.8% overall in cohort 1% to 20.4% in cohort 3. Overall length of stay for the patients undergoing CTCA decreased from a median of 4.2 days in cohort 1 to 2.5 days in cohort 3, with no increase in 30 days adverse outcomes. Invasive coronary angiogram rates were 45.8%, 39% and 34.2% across the cohorts. 29.6% underwent revascularisation in cohort 1, 15.9% in cohort 2 and to 16.4% in cohort 3.Conclusions Increased CTCA availability was associated with a significantly reduced length of stay both pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 lockdown, without any increase in 30-day adverse outcomes.