Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Coronary magnetic resonance angiography is a noninvasive method to visualize coronary arteries. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of coronary magnetic resonance imaging in the detection of coronary artery stenosis. METHOD: The authors studied 61 patients who were scheduled for their first diagnostic X-ray coronary angiography. Magnetic resonance imaging of the coronary arteries under free-breathing was performed prior to the catheterization schedule. The results were compared. RESULTS: Forty-one out of 61 patients (67.2%) had significant coronary stenosis of at least one major coronary artery. Sixteen (26.2%) had triple vessel disease. A total of 391 of 427 segments had interpretable image quality (91.6%). The diagnostic accuracy of the left main artery, left anterior descending artery, left circumflex artery, and right coronary artery was 96.7 per cent, 90 per cent, 80 per cent and 85.2 per cent respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the detection of any significant coronary disease were 97.6 per cent, 75 per cent, 91.2 per cent, 90.9 per cent and 92.3 per cent respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary magnetic resonance imaging is an accurate non-invasive imaging technique in the detection of coronary artery stenosis.