Higher intracoronary attenuation improves diagnostic accuracy in MDCT coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the amount of intracoronary attenuation influences the diagnostic accuracy of MDCT coronary angiography in the detection of clinically significant stenosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty patients in sinus rhythm with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent MDCT of the heart and conventional coronary angiography were retrospectively selected. The population was divided into two groups depending on median (326 H) coronary vascular enhancement (i.e., low attenuation and high attenuation). The diagnostic accuracy of MDCT for the detection of clinically significant coronary artery lesions (> or = 50% lumen reduction) in both groups was compared with that of quantitative coronary angiography. RESULTS: The sensitivity of MDCT was 90% and 93% for the low- and high-attenuation groups, respectively. The specificity was 95% and 97%. CONCLUSION: Greater intracoronary attenuation leads to higher diagnostic accuracy in the detection of coronary artery stenosis with MDCT.

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