title: Multidetector CT angiography of peripheral vascular disease: a prospective comparison with intraarterial digital subtraction angiography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of CT angiography using a multidetector scanner in the evaluation of patients with peripheral vascular disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen patients with peripheral vascular disease who were referred for elective digital subtraction angiography (DSA) also underwent CT angiography. We scanned patients from the level of the superior mesenteric artery to the pedal arteries in a single helical scan. CT angiograms were produced using maximum-intensity-projection reconstructions. Findings were graded according to six categories: 1, normal (0% stenosis); 2, mild (1-49% stenosis); 3, moderate (50-74% stenosis); 4, severe (75-99% stenosis); 5, occluded; and 6, nondiagnostic. CT angiography findings were compared with DSA findings for each arterial segment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found agreement for the degree of stenosis in 77.7% of the arteries and discrepancy for 22.3% of the arteries when all categories were considered. Grouping the six categories according to the threshold for treatment (categories 1 and 2 as one group and categories 3, 4, and 5 as the second group) resulted in an agreement of 91.95%. Compared with DSA, CT angiography yielded a sensitivity of 90.9% and a specificity of 92.4%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multidetector CT angiography is an accurate, noninvasive technique for the imaging of peripheral vascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Rambam Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel.
authors.forename: Amos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ofer
authors.forename: Samy S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Nitecki
authors.forename: Shai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Linn
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Epelman
authors.forename: Doron
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karram
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Litmanovich
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: Ahuva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed