New acquisition method to exclusively enhance the left side of the heart by a small amount of contrast material achieved by multislice computed tomography with 64 data acquisition system.
OBJECTIVE
To exclusively enhance the left side of the heart by a small amount of contrast material (CM) using rapid acquisition of multislice computed tomography (MSCT) with a 64-data acquisition system (DAS).


METHODS
Forty consecutive subjects underwent MSCT (Light Speed VCT, GE) with 0.625mm slice thickness to evaluate coronary arteries. We first measured transit time, using 8ml of CM followed by 20ml saline. Dependent upon transit time, total volume of CM was determined, ranging from 45 to 63ml. After injection of CM at a rate of 4ml/s, followed by 47ml saline at 3.5ml/s, ECG-gated MSCT scanning was performed. The mean and standard deviation (S.D.) of CT values of the right atrium (RA), right ventricle (RV), left atrium (LA), left ventricle (LV), ascending aorta (Ao) and each coronary artery were measured.


RESULTS
The mean of the CT values of the RA, RV, LA, LV, Ao, right coronary artery, left main, left anterior descending branch, and left circumflex branch were 225+/-76, 251+/-72, 353+/-55, 355+/-51, 352+/-34, 312+/-65, 296+/-57, 285+/-55, and 267+/-60HU, respectively. The corresponding S.D.s of the CT values were 39+/-22, 37+/-16, 32+/-7, 31+/-8HU, 25+/-5, 36+/-15, 31+/-13, 36+/-23, and 40+/-18HU, respectively. The mean of CT values of the RA and RV were significantly lower than those of the LA, LV, Ao, and each coronary artery (P<0.01), with excellent S.D.s. We could easily obtain three-dimensional coronary arterial and LV images without artifact of the RA and RV.


CONCLUSIONS
Using 64-DAS MSCT, we successfully obtained exclusive enhancement of the left side of the heart using a small amount of CM.
Funabashi
Nobusada
N
Suzuki
Kazushi
K
Terao
Makoto
M
Maeda
Fumiaki
F
Nakamura
Kohki
K
Mita
Yuzuru
Y
Asano
Miki
M
Kudo
Masayuki
M
Suzuki
Kaori
K
Kurokawa
Michiko
M
Komuro
Issei
I
D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
D003287:Contrast Media