CT, MRI May Outdetect Angiogram for CAD

A study by researchers at the Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany, which was published in Journal Annals of Internal Medicine, September 19, 2006, stated that multislice CT and MRI are more effective than coronary angiography at detecting coronary artery disease (CAD).
In the study, which surveyed images of the coronary arteries of 108 patients with suspected coronary artery disease, investigators used conventional coronary angiography as the standard for comparison. Next, they evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the less-invasive multislice CT and non-invasive MRI. They concluded that the multislice CT was superior to MRI for ruling out CAD. However, they added that multislice CT exposes the patient to radiation and involves an intravenous injection of contrast agent, which can damage the kidneys.