• Tej Sheth, Shoaib Amlani, Mary Lou Ellins, Shamir Mehta, James Velianou, Gail Cappelli, Sean Yang, and Madhu Natarajan.
• Cardiac CT, Hamilton General Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. shetht@mcmaster.ca
• Am. Heart J. 2008 May 1; 155 (5): 918-23.

BackgroundIt is unclear if computed tomographic coronary angiography (CTA), an evolving technique for the evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD), can identify patients with high-risk coronary anatomy.MethodsAmong patients referred for invasive angiography at Hamilton Health Sciences (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), those with an intermediate pretest probability (25%-60% likelihood of a significant stenosis) were prospectively identified using a multivariate risk score and were studied on a 64-detector Toshiba Aquilion scanner (Toshiba Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) before invasive angiography. Patients with high-risk anatomy (left main, 3-vessel CAD, or 2-vessel CAD involving the proximal left anterior descending artery) or at least 1 significant stenosis were identified on CTA and invasive angiography, and the results of these modalities were compared on a per patient basis.ResultsEighty patients were enrolled in the study (mean age 56 +/- 9 years, male-female ratio 43:37). Nondiagnostic scan results were obtained in 5 patients (6%). By CTA, 13 patients had high-risk anatomy and 31 patients had at least 1 significant stenosis. For the per patient detection of high-risk anatomy, CTA had 100% sensitivity (95% CI 69%-100%), 95% specificity (95% CI 86%-95%), a positive likelihood ratio of 18.0 (95% CI 6.4-50.3), and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.05 (95% CI 0-0.072). Revascularization was performed in 100% of patients with high-risk anatomy on CTA, 83% with at least 1 significant stenosis on CTA, and 0% without a significant stenosis on CTA.ConclusionIn appropriately selected patients, CTA is a highly sensitive and specific technique for the detection of high-risk anatomy and maybe a valuable method for noninvasive risk stratification.

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