Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 12.12.2025

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_71774" align="alignleft" width="150"] Prof. Fairbairn[/caption] Prof. Timothy Fairbairn MBChB, PhD FRCP  and [caption id="attachment_71775" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Bell[/caption] Dr.  Jack Bell Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Liverpool, UK   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is a non-invasive heart scan used in the first-line investigation of patients with suspected stable coronary artery disease (CAD). While CCTA clearly shows blockages in coronary arteries, it is limited in its ability to estimate reduced blood flow, which is necessary to diagnose angina. An artificial intelligence-based tool (Heartflow) has been developed that analyses CCTA images and provides an estimate of blood flow: CT-derived fractional flow reserve (FFR-CT). The real-world, retrospective English FISH&CHIPS study demonstrated that including FFR-CT as a decision-making tool in the diagnosis of stable CAD reduces the number of subsequent invasive and non-invasive tests performed. Whether FFR-CT could also be used prognostically, to predict future major cardiovascular events, was not fully understood. Previous studies have had small patient numbers, short follow-up and investigated combined cardiovascular outcomes. We performed an analysis on the national FISH&CHIPS population, which was large enough to determine if FFR-CT adds incremental value to traditional cardiovascular risk factors in predicting cardiovascular outcomes and death.