November 5, 2007 - According to late-breaking clinical trial results presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007, a high-tech imaging technique might replace the more invasive standard coronary angiography as a way for doctors to look at blockages in heart arteries in some patients.

In the Coronary Artery Evaluation Using 64-Row Multidetector Computed Tomography Angiography trial (CORE-64), researchers evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of multidetector spiral CT angiography (MDCTA) compared with conventional coronary angiography (CCA) in detecting coronary artery disease. Coronary angiography is an X-ray examination of the blood vessels of the heart that requires that a very small catheter be inserted into a blood vessel in the groin or arm, positioned at the beginning of the coronary arteries and used to inject a special fluid that is visible by X-ray. The pictures obtained are called angiograms. The MDCTA-64 also takes X-ray pictures of the coronary arteries in patients with suspected coronary artery disease, but it uses 64 detectors to take and combine multiple X-ray pictures and there is no need for catheter insertion.

The study, the first of its kind, included 291 patients in nine centers internationally: three centers in the U.S. and one each in Brazil, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Canada and Singapore. All patients were scheduled to undergo CCA for suspected coronary artery disease. Patients first underwent coronary calcium imaging and scoring followed by MDCTA imaging prior to their cardiac catheterization. MDCTA and catheterization images were analyzed by independent core laboratories.

MDCTA was performed using 0.5-millimeter slice image thickness, with 64 simultaneous detector rows. More than 98 percent of the coronary arteries as small as 1.5 millimeters in diameter could be seen using MDCT. Results showed that the test had good diagnostic ability for detecting blockages >50 percent occlusive (Sensitivity= 0.85 and specificity= 0.90, AUC = 0.93). Also, MDCT showed a similar diagnostic ability to CCA in its ability to identify patients who were felt to have severe enough disease to be referred for angioplasty or bypass surgery, though it was less able to determine which specific vessel of the heart was blocked, compared with CCA.

“In patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) and calcium scores less than 600, 64-row MDCTA can assess the presence of significant CAD and the likelihood physicians will refer for coronary revascularization,” said Julie M. Miller, M.D., lead investigator of the study and assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. “The strong performance of 64-row MDCT in this multicenter trial supports its use as a diagnostic test to help us diagnose symptomatic patients who may have significant coronary obstruction. “

Support for this study was provided by Toshiba and Bracco.

Statements and conclusions of study authors that are presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position. The American Heart Association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.

For more information: www.americanheart.org


Related Content

News | PET-CT

June 19, 2025 — Building on a collaboration that spans more than three decades, GE HealthCare has renewed its research ...

Time June 19, 2025
arrow
News | Lung Imaging

April, 15, 2025 — Optellum has entered an agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb to leverage AI in early diagnosis and ...

Time April 17, 2025
arrow
News | Pediatric Imaging

April 10, 2025 — Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare will form a strategic research program focused on driving ...

Time April 10, 2025
arrow
News | SPECT Imaging

Feb. 5, 2025 — Serac Healthcare Ltd., a clinical radiopharmaceutical company developing an innovative molecular imaging ...

Time February 05, 2025
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

Dec. 3, 2024 — During RSNA '24, GE HealthCare announced the 510(k) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ...

Time December 18, 2024
arrow
News | SPECT Imaging

Dec. 2, 2024 — GE HealthCare has agreed to acquire full ownership of Nihon Medi-Physics Co., Ltd (NMP), by purchasing ...

Time December 05, 2024
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

At the annual AHRA (American Healthcare Radiology Administrators) conference in Orlando, Florida, Bayer announced an ...

Time August 09, 2024
arrow
Videos | Radiology Business

Find actionable insights to achieve sustainability and savings in radiology in this newest of ITN’s “One on One” video ...

Time July 30, 2024
arrow
News | Radiopharmaceuticals and Tracers

July 24, 2024 — Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited announced that the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ...

Time July 24, 2024
arrow
News | RSNA

July 23, 2024 — Professional registration is open for RSNA 2024, the world’s largest radiology forum. This year’s theme ...

Time July 23, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now