title: Prevalence and morphology of coronary artery ectasia with dual-source CT coronary angiography.
abstract: To assess the prevalence and morphological characteristics of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) with CT coronary angiography (CTCA) in comparison to conventional catheterangiography (CCA). Dual-source CTCA examinations from 677 consecutive patients (223 women; median age 57 years) were retrospectively evaluated by two blinded observers for the presence of CAE defined as a diameter enlargement > or = 1.5 times the diameter of adjacent normal coronary segments. Vessel diameters and contrast attenuation within and proximal to ectatic segments were measured. CCA was used to compare measurements obtained from CTCA with the coronary flow velocity by using the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count. CTCA identified CAE in 20 of 677 (3%) patients. CCA was performed in ten of these patients. CAE diameter measurements with CTCA (10.0 +/- 5.4 mm) correlated significantly (r = 0.92, p < 0.001) with the CCA measurements (8.8 +/- 4.9 mm), but had higher diameters (levels of agreement: -1.0 to 3.4 mm). Contrast attenuation was significantly lower in the ectatic (343 +/- 63 HU) than in the proximal (394 +/- 60 HU) segments (p < 0.01). The attenuation difference significantly correlated with the CAE ratio (r = 0.67, p < 0.01) and the TIMI frame count (r = 0.58, p < 0.05). The prevalence of CAE in a population examined by CTCA is around 3%. Contrast attenuation measurements with CTCA correlate well with the flow alterations assessed with CCA.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leschka
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stolzmann
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scheffel
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wildermuth
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plass
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Genoni
authors.forename: Borut
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marincek
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alkadhi
mesh_terms: D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013557:Switzerland; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*