title: Evaluation of temporal windows for coronary artery bypass graft imaging with 64-slice CT.
abstract: Temporal windows providing the best image quality of different segments and types of coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs) with 64-slice computed tomography (CT) were evaluated in an experimental set-up. Sixty-four-slice CT with a rotation time of 330 ms was performed in 25 patients (four female; mean age 59.9 years). A total of 84 CABGs (62 individual and 22 sequential grafts) were evaluated, including 28 internal mammary artery (33.3%), one radial artery with sequential grafting (2.4%), and 54 saphenous vein grafts (64.3%). Ten data sets were reconstructed in 10% increments of the RR-interval. Each graft was separated into segments (proximal and distal anastomosis, and body), and CABG types were grouped according to target arteries. Two readers independently assessed image quality of each CABG segment in each temporal window. Diagnostic image quality was found with good inter-observer agreement (kappa=0.62) in 98.5% (202/205) of all graft segments. Image quality was significantly better for saphenous vein grafts versus arterial grafts (P<0.001) and for distal anastomosis to the right coronary compared with other target coronary arteries (P<0.05). Overall, best image quality was found at 60%. Image quality of proximal segments did not significantly vary with the temporal window, whereas for all other segments image quality was significantly better at 60% compared with other temporal windows (P<0.05). Sixty-four-slice CT provides best image quality of various segments and types of CABG at 60% of the RR-interval.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasee 100, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lotus
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Desbiolles
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leschka
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plass
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scheffel
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Husmann
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gaemperli
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garzoli
authors.forename: Borut
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marincek
authors.forename: Philipp A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alkadhi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*