University of East Anglia Study Finds One-Third of Routine Heart Scans Fail to Provide Diagnostic Clarity

UEA study finds 34% of heart scans are non-diagnostic, often due to lung disease, costing the NHS thousands in repeat tests and delays.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 24, 2026, 4:01 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from University of East Anglia

The Hidden Diagnostic Gap in Routine Cardiology

Echocardiograms, or heart ultrasound scans, have long been the gold standard for frontline cardiac assessment due to their non-invasive nature and low cost. However, a decadal study conducted by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has exposed a significant efficiency gap in how these tests are utilized within the NHS. After analyzing results from more than 70,000 patients, researchers found that over one in three scans failed to produce images clear enough to facilitate a definitive diagnosis. This lack of clarity forces clinicians to order repeat procedures or more expensive, invasive follow-up imaging, creating a bottleneck in cardiac care pathways.

Clinical Obstacles Beyond Textbook Scenarios

The primary reason for these diagnostic failures is the physical interference caused by a patient's existing medical conditions. While ultrasound technology is robust, the sound waves must pass through the chest wall and lungs to reach the heart. Dr. Pankaj Garg, lead researcher and consultant cardiologist, noted that "real-world" patients often possess anatomical challenges not typically seen in medical textbooks. Chronic conditions like lung disease can trap air in the chest, which acts as a barrier to ultrasound waves, more than doubling the risk of a non-diagnostic result. This interference renders the standard frontline test ineffective for a substantial portion of the population.

Identifying High Risk Factors for Image Failure

The study identified several key patient profiles that are most likely to experience "failed" scans. Beyond lung disease, individuals with suspected heart failure, irregular heart rhythms, or those who have undergone previous cardiac surgery are at significantly higher risk for unclear results. Interestingly, the data debunked common assumptions regarding obesity; the researchers found that body weight and sex had negligible effects on scan quality. Instead, the status of a patient as a hospital inpatient emerged as a major predictor of failure, likely due to the difficulty of positioning severely ill patients correctly for the ultrasound probe.