Purpose: To evaluate the value of 64-detector-row computed tomography for ruling out high-grade coronary stenoses in patients with a low to moderate pretest probability of significant coronary artery disease.
Material and methods: The study included 61 patients with a suspicion of coronary artery disease on the basis of atypical angina or ambiguous findings in noninvasive stress testing and a class II indication for invasive coronary angiography (ICA). All patients were examined by 64-detector-row computed tomography angiography (CTA) and ICA. On a coronary segmental level, the presence of significant (> or = 50% diameter) stenoses was examined.
Results: In a total of 915 segments, CTA detected 62 significant stenoses. Thirty-four significant stenoses were confirmed by ICA, whereas 28 stenoses could not be confirmed by ICA. Twenty-two of them showed wall irregularities on ICA, and six were angiographically normal. Accordingly, on a coronary segmental basis, 28 false-positive and 0 false-negative findings resulted in a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 96.8%, a positive predictive value of 54.8%, and a negative predictive value of 100%. The diagnostic accuracy was 96.9%.
Conclusion: Sixty-four-detector-row computed tomography reliably detects significant coronary stenoses in patients with suspected coronary artery disease and appears to be helpful in the selection of patients who need to undergo ICA. Calcified and non-calcified plaques are detected. Grading of stenoses in areas with calcification is difficult. Frequently, stenosis severity is overestimated by 64-detector-row computed tomography.