Evaluation of Coronary Artery Stenoses Using Electron-Beam CT and Multiplanar Reformation

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Abstract
We assessed the diagnostic value of electron-beam CT with multiplanar reformation for coronary artery stenoses. Thirty-seven patients who underwent conventional coronary angiography were evaluated with ECG-triggered thin section electron-beam CT with intravenous contrast enhancement. Multiplanar reformation of a stack of the images was performed to visualize coronary arteries. Two observers blind to the results of conventional coronary angiography independently evaluated the reformatted images. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of significant lesions were 100 and 100% in the left main coronary artery, 83 and 84% in the left anterior descending artery, 67 and 96% in left circumflex artery, 63 and 79% in the right coronary artery, and 74 and 94% for total results, respectively. All false-positive results in the left anterior descending artery were caused by wall calcification, and in the right coronary artery, 83% of the false-positive results were caused by small slice gaps in noncalcified segments. Electron-beam CT was feasible for the detection of coronary artery stenoses. For interpretation of reformatted images, calcification and slice gaps should be taken into consideration.