Comparison of coronary artery calcium scores between electron beam computed tomography and 64-multidetector computed tomographic scanner.
OBJECTIVE
Because almost all data currently available with coronary calcium scanning are from electron beam tomography (EBT), we assessed whether scores obtained with 64-multidetector computed tomography (CT; MDCT) are similar. We evaluated the interscan variation in coronary artery calcium (CAC), Agatston score (AS), and volume score (VS) between EBT and 64-MDCT (VCT; GE, Milwaukee, Wis).


METHODS
One hundred two patients (mean age, 61.1 years; 27 women) underwent dual CAC scanning with both EBT and 64-MDCT. The AS and VS were measured with the Aquarius workstation (TeraRecon, Inc, San Mateo, Calif). The correlation coefficient, Bland-Altman analysis, interscanner variation, and agreement in AS and VS scores between EBT and 64-MDCT were computed.


RESULTS
Interscan agreement for presence of CAC was 99%. Median values were 286 and 268 mm for AS and 243 and 213 mm for VS with EBT and 64-MDCT, respectively (P > 0.05). There was significant linear relationship between scores from the 2 scanners (R = 0.98 in AS and R = 0.99 in VS; P < 0.001). The interscanner variability between EBT and 64-MDCT was 20.9% and 17.6% in AS and VS, respectively (P = NS). Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a mean difference in scores of 8.3% for AS and 7.8% by VS. When compared with EBT, there were larger and more prevalent motion artifacts (P < 0.001) and larger mean Hounsfield units using 64-MDCT (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
At CAC scanning, 64-MDCT and EBT were comparable in AS and VS. The interscan variability between scanners is similar to interscan variability of 2 calcium scores done on the same equipment. However, heart rate control was achieved for this study for calcium scores. Whether these results are repeatable without heart rate control needs to be further assessed.
Mao
Song S
SS
Division of Cardiology, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute and Saint John's Cardiovascular Research Center, Torrance, California, USA.
Pal
Raveen S
RS
McKay
Charles R
CR
Gao
Yan G
YG
Gopal
Ambarish
A
Ahmadi
Naser
N
Child
Janis
J
Carson
Sivi
S
Takasu
Junichiro
J
Sarlak
Behnaz
B
Bechmann
Daniel
D
Budoff
Matthew Jay
MJ
D016477:Artifacts; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis*; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D002118:Calcium