Prognostic value of significant and non-significant coronary artery stenosis detection using MDCT for major adverse cardiac events.

摘要

Multiple studies have shown that multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) has a high sensitivity (97%) and specificity (91%) for detecting coronary artery calcifications and plaque formations [1-12]. With the continual improvement in both spatial and temporal resolution, scanners became more versatile [1,13-16]. With smaller plaques visible the problem of defining clinical relevant stenosis has emerged. Which coronary lesions to treat, and even more important which lesions not to intervene are an ongoing discussion [171. We tried to evaluate the prognostic value of cardiac CT, in a cohort of 190 patients, who underwent study-based, standardized cardiac CTAs including calcium scoring between 10/2007 and 06/2008 using either single-source MDCT [18-20] or dual-source CT (DSCT [12]). Each study protocol was approved by the local institution review board. Initially the scans were analyzed for the presence of plaques (up to 50% luminal narrowing) and 'significant' stenoses, >50% diameter reduction.