Coronary artery imaging with 64-slice spiral CT in atrial fibrillation patients:initial experience / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the clinical value of coronary artery imaging using 64-slice spiral CT in patient with atrial fibrillation.Methods The images of 31 patients with atrial fibrillation who underwent contrast-enhanced CT coronary angiography were evaluated.The presence of stenosis on each segment of coronary arteries was recorded and their degree of stenosis was measured using the vessel analysis software.Ten patients additionally underwent conventional coronary angiography.The results of conventional coronary angiography were compared with CT coronary angiography of the 10 patients.Results Image reconstruction was based on absolute timing.The image quality of 364 coronary vessel segments on the images from 31 patients was evaluated and defined as excellent,fine,moderate or poor.The image quality was excellent,fine,moderate and poor in 85,41,5,and 8 vessel segments respectively in patient group with heart rate between 47 beat per minent(bpm)and 69 bpm;and in 63,16,13,and 15 vessel segments respectively in patent group with heart rate between 70 bpm and 79 bpm;and in 46,25,23,and 24 vessel segments in patient group with heart rate between 80 bpm and 105 bpm.There was significant difference among the three patient groups(H=22.08,P＜0.01).Comparison was carried out between CT angiographic findings and conventional angiographic findings of the 125 segments of the coronary arteries in the 10 patients who underwent conventional coronary angiography.The sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography for diagnosing vessel with significant coronary stenosis(≥50% narrowing)was 85.0%(17/20)and 95.2%(100/105),respectively.Positive predictive value was 77.3%(17/22),and negative predictive value was 97.1%(100/103).Coronary CTA underestimated the lesions of 3 vessel segments and overestimated the lesions of 5 vessel segments.Conclusion Coronary artery imaging with 64-slice row CT had clinical value for patients with atrial fibrillation.