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Towards Green Cardiovascular Care: Carbon Footprint Analysis in the Management of Coronary Artery Disease

Young-Hae Go1, Seokhun Yang2, Doyeon Hwang2

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Korean Circulation Journal
|October 31, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Healthcare carbon footprint analysis is crucial, especially in cardiovascular medicine. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) data can compare treatment strategies, showing fractional flow reserve (FFR) has a lower carbon footprint.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions, poses significant threats to human health.
  • The healthcare sector contributes substantially to global carbon emissions (4.4%), yet its carbon footprint is understudied.
  • Cardiovascular diseases are a major health concern, and their treatments can be carbon-intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the importance of carbon footprint assessment in healthcare, particularly cardiovascular medicine.
  • To demonstrate the utility of randomized controlled trial (RCT) data for comparing the carbon footprint of different medical interventions.
  • To emphasize the need to consider emissions from the entire clinical course and follow-up, not just direct intervention emissions.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data routinely collected during RCT follow-up periods to estimate total emissions associated with treatment strategies.
  • Compared the carbon footprint of fractional flow reserve (FFR) versus intravascular ultrasonography for intermediate coronary artery stenosis using RCT data.
  • Employed a long-term simulation model (30 years) to project cumulative carbon emissions for different treatment strategies.

Main Results:

  • The fractional flow reserve (FFR) group demonstrated a lower carbon footprint during the 2-year follow-up period compared to the intravascular ultrasonography group.
  • Long-term simulation indicated that the FFR strategy maintained a lower cumulative carbon emission profile over 30 years.
  • RCT data provides a feasible method for estimating and comparing the environmental impact of cardiovascular interventions.

Conclusions:

  • Comparing the carbon footprint of treatment strategies using existing RCT data offers valuable insights for environmentally responsible healthcare decisions.
  • Developing comprehensive carbon footprint databases for healthcare interventions is essential.
  • Raising awareness among healthcare professionals about the environmental impact of medical practices is critical for sustainability.

Keywords:
Carbon footprintCoronary artery diseaseRandomized controlled trial

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