title: Multislice computed tomography: angiographic emulation versus standard assessment for detection of coronary stenoses.
abstract: The present study investigated angiographic emulation of multislice computed tomography (MSCT) (catheter-like visualization) as an alternative approach of analyzing and visualizing findings in comparison with standard assessment. Thirty patients (120 coronary arteries) were randomly selected from 90 prospectively investigated patients with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent MSCT (16-slice scanner, 0.5 mm collimation, 400 ms rotation time) prior to conventional coronary angiography for comparison of both approaches. Sensitivity and specificity of angiographic emulation [81% (26/32) and 93% (82/88)] were not significantly different from those of standard assessment [88% (28/32) and 99% (87/88)], while the per-case analysis time was significantly shorter for angiographic emulation than for standard assessment (3.4 +/- 1.5 vs 7.0 +/- 2.5 min, P < 0.001). Both interventional and referring cardiologists preferred angiographic emulation over standard curved multiplanar reformations of MSCT coronary angiography for illustration, mainly because of improved overall lucidity and depiction of sidebranches (P < 0.001). In conclusion, angiographic emulation of MSCT reduces analysis time, yields a diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of standard assessment, and is preferred by cardiologists for visualization of results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schnapauff
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Dübel
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scholze
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamm
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dewey
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed