[Usefulness of coronary angiography with multidetector computed tomography in the evaluation of aorto-coronary bypass patency].
BACKGROUND
Coronary angiography is actually the gold standard to visualize coronary artery bypass graft patency and to detect bypass stenoses. However, it is an invasive examination that makes use of X-ray emission and it may lead to deleterious effects even at low dosage. Therefore, it is still needed a non-invasive examination with good diagnostic accuracy for the follow-up of patients with coronary artery bypass grafts. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a 40-row multidetector computed tomography scanner for the assessment of bypass surgery versus coronary angiography.


METHODS
Twenty-six consecutive patients (20 male, 6 female, mean age 65 years) and a total number of 68 coronary bypass grafts (25 arterial and 43 venous grafts, 111 anastomoses) were examined by 40-row multidetector computed tomography.


RESULTS
It was possible to analyze coronary artery bypass graft patency for every patient. At coronary angiography 23 patients showed bypass stenoses or occlusion: 19 of them were correctly diagnosed by computed tomography (sensitivity 84%, specificity 100%). In particular, computed tomography showed a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 100% for coronary artery bypass grafts, whereas it showed a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 94% for anastomoses.


CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of the results of our study, computed tomography is a valuable tool for assessing coronary artery bypass graft patency in patients with clinical suspect of coronary occlusion.
Novo
Giuseppina
G
Cattedra di Malattie dell'Apparato Cardiovascolare , AOU Policlinico P Giaccone, Università degli Studi, Palermo.
Runza
Giuseppe
G
Evola
Salvatore
S
Triolo
Oreste Fabio
OF
Alaimo
Valerio
V
Rizzo
Marco
M
La Fata
Antonella
A
Palazzolo
Giuseppina
G
Sutera
Fiorella
F
Andolina
Giuseppe
G
Hoffmann
Enrico
E
Novo
Salvatore
S
Midiri
Massimo
M
D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation; D014654:Vascular Patency