Directly standardised rate of hospital episodes for angiography per 100,000 population.
Circulatory disease accounts for nearly 40% of all deaths among men and women in England every year and coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the biggest killers. Many people are living with CHD: more than 1.4 million suffer with angina and 300,000 have heart attacks every year. The effects of heart disease are not evenly distributed across different strata of society. The National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease states that there is good evidence that many people with atheromatous plaques and narrowed coronary arteries can have their symptoms relieved and / or their risks of dying reduced by restoring blood flow through blocked coronary arteries – revascularisation. To determine the need for any such procedure, the framework suggests that an angiography takes place. Since the hearts arteries are not visible on x-ray, a special dye is injected into them through a catheter so the extent of any narrowing can be assessed and a future course of action decided (the angiography procedure). The Department of Health’s National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease states that “NHS Trusts should put in place hospital-wide systems of care so that patients with suspected or confirmed coronary heart disease receive timely and appropriate investigation and treatment to relieve their symptoms and reduce their risk of subsequent coronary events”. The appropriate investigation and intervention pathway is described as: • Angiography for those with evidence of continuing extensive ischaemia and /or angina that persists despite optimal therapy and lifestyle advice; • Quantitative assessment of urgency/risk/priority using a published stratification system for patients accepting an offer of revascularisation to inform the judgement about the balance of risks and benefits and to help determine each patient’s relative priority for treatment; • Revascularisation – either a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) with or without stenting; • Effective secondary prevention and rehabilitation.
This indicator has been discontinued and so there will be no further updates.
Legacy unique identifier: P01041