SCMH Clinical Trial: DISCHARGE
Published: 21 March 2022
Christian Delles, Colin Berry, Giles Roditi, and Katriona Brooksbank, worked together as part of the DISCHARGE trial.
Led by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, researchers from 31 European clinical institutions, including a team from the University of Glasgow (Colin Berry, Giles Roditi, Katriona Brooksbank, Christian Delles), worked together as part of the DISCHARGE trial. The aim of the trial was to test whether cardiac computed tomography (CT) was as reliable as catheterization – the current standard diagnostic test for intermediate-risk patients – in people with suspected coronary artery disease.
A comprehensive analysis of the study’s results, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that CT offers a similar level of diagnostic accuracy, in addition to being associated with a lower risk of complications.
Brief Summary
The primary hypothesis is that computed tomography (CT) is superior to invasive coronary angiography (ICA) concerning the primary endpoint MACE (MACE = major adverse cardiovascular event; defined as at least one of the following: cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke) after a maximum follow-up of 4 years, in other words, that CT will result in a significantly lower rate of MACE. Secondary outcomes include MICE (MICE = minor cardiovascular events), procedural complications, cost-effectiveness, radiation exposure, cross-over to CT or ICA, gender differences, and health-related quality of life.
DISCHARGE is a collaborative multinational research project. The consortium of the project is composed of 31 members in 18 European states. Core of the project is a pragmatic randomised controlled trial which includes 26 clinical sites from 16 European countries. The project will examine for which patients with suspected coronary artery disease based on stable chest pain, cardiac computed tomography (CT) or cardiac catheterisation is best suited and is based on the single-centre experience with the CAD-Man study at Charité.
First published: 21 March 2022