Aims: Accelerated flow at the site of flow-limiting stenosis can be detected by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE). We studied feasibility and accuracy of sequential coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and TTDE in detection of haemodynamically significant coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods and results: We prospectively enrolled 107 patients with intermediate (30-70%) pre-test likelihood of CAD. All patients underwent CTA using a 64-slice scanner. Using TTDE, the ratio of maximal diastolic flow velocity to pre-stenotic flow velocity (M/P ratio) was measured in the coronary segments with stenosis in CTA. In all patients, the results were compared with invasive coronary angiography, including measurement of fractional flow reserve when appropriate. All analyses were done blinded. TTDE was feasible in 276 of 285 evaluated coronary segments. Significant coronary stenoses were associated with a higher M/P ratio than non-significant stenoses (3.59 ± 1.82 vs. 1.28 ± 0.60, P < 0.001). The optimal M/P ratio for detection of significant stenosis was 2.2 (area under receiver operating characteristic curve 0.92, P < 0.001). Compared with the strategy of CTA alone, sequential CTA and focused TTDE had a better positive predictive value (PPV; 61 vs. 78%) and diagnostic accuracy (93 vs. 96%, P = 0.006) without impairment of the negative predictive value (97 vs. 97%).
Conclusion: Sequential use of CTA and TTDE is feasible for combined anatomic and functional evaluation of coronary stenoses. Compared with coronary CTA alone, addition of TTDE improved PPV for detection of significant CAD.