Multislice Computed Tomography shows promise for noninvasive detection of coronary artery disease

10 June 2005

A study in Ulm, Germany found that multislice computed tomography (MSCT) provides high accuracy for noninvasive detection of suspected obstructive coronary artery disease. It concluded that the technology has potential to complement diagnostic invasive coronary angiography in routine clinical care.

The researchers found that compared with invasive coronary angiography for detection of significant lesions (greater than 50 percent stenosis), segment-based sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of MSCT were 95 percent, 98 percent, 87 percent, and 99 percent, respectively.

Quantitative comparison of MSCT and invasive coronary angiography showed good correlation, with MSCT systematically measuring greater-percentage stenoses. Per-patient based analysis indicated high discriminative power to identify patients who might be candidates for revascularisation.

The study was conducted by doctors from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital, Ulm, and the Department of Radiology, Heart Centre, Ulm, Germany. It involved 103 patients who were undergoing both invasive coronary angiography and MSCT using a scanner with 16 detector rows. One thousand three hundred eighty-four segments were identified by invasive coronary angiography, 94% of which were of diagnostic image quality.

Full story in JAMA Vol. 293 No. 20, May 25, 2005
Summary:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/293/20/2471

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