Variability of repeated coronary artery calcium measurements by 1.25-mm- and 2.5-mm-thickness images on prospective electrocardiograph-triggered 64-slice CT.
High reproducibility on coronary artery calcium scoring is a key requirement in monitoring the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. The purpose of this prospective study is to assess the reproducibility of 1.25-mm- and 2.5-mm-thickness images on prospective electrocardiograph-triggered 64-slice CT with respect to 2.5-mm-thickness images on spiral overlapping reconstruction. One hundred patients suspected of coronary artery disease were scanned twice repeatedly, both on prospective electrocardiograph-triggered step-and-shoot and retrospective electrocardiograph-gated spiral scans. Using 1.25-mm-thickness collimation, 1.25-mm- and 2.5-mm-thickness image sets on prospective scans and 2.5-mm-thickness image sets with 1.25-mm increment (overlapping) on retrospective scans were obtained. Coronary artery calcium scores, interscan variability and interobserver variability were evaluated. The mean interscan variability in coronary artery calcium measurement on 1.25-mm prospective/2.5-mm prospective/2.5-mm overlapping retrospective scans were Agatston: 10%/18%/12%, volume: 10%/12%/10% and mass: 8%/13%/11% for observer 1 and Agatston: 8%/14%/10%, volume: 7%/9%/10% and mass: 7%/10%/9% for observer 2, respectively. The mean interobserver variability was 5% to 14%. In conclusion, prospective electrocardiograph-triggered 64-slice CT using the 1.25-mm prospective scan shows the lowest variability. The 2.5-mm prospective scan on volume or mass scoring shows variability of around 10%, comparable to 2.5-mm-thickness spiral overlapping reconstruction images.
Department of Clinical Radiology, Hiroshima University Hospital, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan. horiguch@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Jun
J
Horiguchi
Noriaki
N
Matsuura
Hideya
H
Yamamoto
Nobuhiko
N
Hirai
Masao
M
Kiguchi
Chikako
C
Fujioka
Toshiro
T
Kitagawa
Nobuoki
N
Kohno
Katsuhide
K
Ito
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*