What is it about?
Stroke and heart attack cause reduced quality of life and early death. The DANCAVAS trial screened men aged 65-74 with cardiac CT scans but didn't reduce heart disease deaths. However, patients prioritize preventing strokes and heart attacks. This study reassesses the trial from the patient perspective.
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Why is it important?
Administering statins and aspirin to individuals with notable findings such as coronary atherosclerosis resulted in a reduction of the absolute risk of stroke and heart attack by 0.7%. However, it also led to a 0.2% increase in the risk of intracranial hemorrhage. While the DANCAVAS trial successfully aligned with patient preferences, the observed benefits were moderate and were counterbalanced by a slight elevation in the risk of intracranial hemorrhage.
Perspectives
These findings suggest that the DANCAVAS trial met patient preferences, but future screening programs might exclude aspirin due to its negative benefit/harm ratio - even in patients with significant coronary atherosclerosis by heart CT.
Axel Cosmus Pyndt Diederichsen
Odense University Hospital
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: User-defined outcomes of the Danish cardiovascular screening (DANCAVAS) trial: A post hoc analyses of a population-based, randomised controlled trial, PLoS Medicine, May 2024, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004403.
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