Electron-beam CT in the noninvasive assessment of coronary stent patency.
OBJECTIVE
Coronary artery stents reduce the rate of restenosis in patients who have undergone balloon angioplasty; therefore, the implantation of coronary stents represents an important method in the treatment of coronary stenoses. The authors' purpose was to investigate the usefulness of electron-beam computed tomography (CT) as a noninvasive means of assessing the patency of coronary artery stents in patients who had undergone balloon angioplasty and stent placement.


METHODS
Electron-beam CT was used to assess stent patency in 177 patients with 285 stents. Contrast material-enhanced multisection flow studies were performed, and the images were evaluated by three investigators and compared with the findings of coronary angiography.


RESULTS
Cine loop evaluations and time-attenuation curve analysis led to the correct diagnosis in 167 (94.3%) patients, as confirmed with coronary angiography. Stenoses had occurred in 18 of the 194 vessels with stents, and 14 of these were detected with electron-beam CT.


CONCLUSIONS
Electron-beam CT appears to be a valuable imaging modality in the noninvasive assessment of stent patency in coronary arteries.
Pump
H
H
Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Ruhr, Germany.
Moehlenkamp
S
S
Sehnert
C
C
Schimpf
S S
SS
Erbel
R
R
Seibel
R M
RM
Groenemeyer
D H
DH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D015607:Stents; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014654:Vascular Patency