title: CTA Detection of Left Atrial Stasis and Thrombus in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We investigated computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA) in assessment of left atrial appendage (LAA) stasis and thrombus in preprocedural evaluation for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation in a large community cohort.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We reviewed CTA and transesophageal echocardiographic images obtained in 861 consecutive patients with a history of AF undergoing same-day CTA and transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) before AF ablation at a single hospital (2006-2013). CTA findings of LAA filling defects from acquisitions without electrocardiogram gating were compared to TEE features of LAA stasis (grade 0-4) and thrombus. Stasis grade 0 or 1 by TEE in the absence of thrombus was defined as a negative result. In addition, LAA peak flow velocity was assessed by TEE. Average age was 61 ± 10 years and 75% were male. On CTA, 161 patients (19%) had LAA filling defects on CTA and 21 had ≥grade 2 stasis on TEE, including two with thrombus, resulting in a positive predictive value of only 13%. However, among 670 CTA-negative patients, 669 (99%) were negative for thrombus or stasis by TEE with one false-negative CTA in a patient with grade 2 stasis by TEE but no thrombus, yielding a negative predictive value of 99.9%. Slow LAA Doppler flow velocity was the most important determinant of false-positive CTA results in multivariate analysis (P < 0.0001) CONCLUSION: LAA filling defects on CT are associated with slow LAA flow velocity. AF patients without LAA filing defects on CT are free of significant stasis and thrombus on TEE. It may be possible to eliminate TEE in up to 80% of AF ablation patients based on negative CTA findings.
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Madhavi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kadiyala
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Elana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koss
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Abhimanyu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yarramaneni
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rapelje
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kampfer
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Reichek
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoch
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jayam
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, Roslyn, New York.
authors.forename: Jie J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D000072226:Computed Tomography Angiography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: atrial fibrillation ablation; computed tomography; left atrial appendage; stasis and thrombus; transesophageal echocardiography