The international journal of cardiovascular imaging
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Mar 2012
Comparative StudyCoronary wall MR imaging in patients with rapid heart rates: a feasibility study of black-blood steady-state free precession (SSFP).
We assessed the hypothesis that black-blood steady-state free precession (SSFP) would provide coronary wall images comparable to images from TSE and have better performance than TSE under conditions of fast heart rate. With IRB approval, thirty participants without a history of coronary artery disease (19 men, 11 women, 26-83 y/o) were scanned with a 1.5 T MR scanner. Cross-sectional black-blood images of the proximal portions of coronary arteries were acquired with a two-dimensional (2D), double inversion recovery (DIR) prepared TSE sequence and a 2D DIR SSFP sequence on the same planes. ⋯ For 10 participants with heart rate more than 80 beats/min, the image quality of SSFP was higher than TSE (P = 0.016). SSFP provided image quality and measurement accuracy that was comparable to TSE. With its higher performance under fast heart rate conditions, SSFP may break through the existing thresholds for heart rate and extend clinical applicability of coronary wall MR imaging to a larger population.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Mar 2012
Comparative StudyImmediate computed tomography coronary angiography versus delayed outpatient stress testing for detecting coronary artery disease in emergency department patients with chest pain.
Noninvasive testing for coronary artery disease (CAD) is warranted for symptomatic patients with intermediate pretest likelihood of CAD. Accomplishing testing in an emergency department (ED) environment is challenging. We compared two strategies of CAD testing in ED patients: immediate computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) versus delayed outpatient stress testing. ⋯ A strategy of immediate CTCA is superior to a delayed stress testing strategy for detecting CAD in ED patients with chest pain and prompting appropriate referrals for further management. Delayed stress testing was primarily ineffective due to low follow-up. Immediate CTCA can be used safely without altering the ED duration of stay.
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To determine the infarct affinity of a low molecular weight contrast agent, Gd(ABE-DTTA), during the subacute phase of myocardial infarct (MI). Dogs (n = 7) were examined, using a closed-chest, reperfused MI model. MI was generated by occluding for 180 min the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery with an angioplasty balloon. ⋯ The mean SIE on day 3, 13, or 27 did not vary significantly (P = NS) on the T2-TSE images (114 ± 41%, 123 ± 41%, and 150 ± 79%, respectively). Post mortem, the existence of infarcts was confirmed by TTC staining. The infarct affinity of Gd(ABE-DTTA) vanishes in the subacute phase of scar healing, allowing its use for infarct age differentiation early on, immediately following the acute phase.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Feb 2012
Utility of nonspecific resting electrocardiographic features for detection of coronary artery stenosis by computed tomography in acute chest pain patients: from the ROMICAT trial.
Twelve-lead surface electrocardiography (ECG) and computed tomography (CT) are used to evaluate for myocardial ischemia and coronary artery disease (CAD), respectively. We aimed to determine features on resting ECG that predict coronary artery stenosis by cardiac CT. In 309 acute chest pain patients, we compared the initial triage resting ECG to contrast-enhanced 64-slice cardiac CT angiography. ⋯ In multivariable analyses, the risk for coronary stenosis increased by 33-41% for every 20 ms prolongation of the QTc interval after adjusting for age, gender, and cardiac risk factors or adjustment for Framingham risk score. Similarly, there was an increase of fourfold with the presence of ST depression >0.05 to ≤0.1 mV or T wave inversion ≥0.1 mV. In acute chest pain patients, resting ECG features of QTc interval prolongation, mild ST depression, and T wave inversion are independently associated with the presence of CT coronary stenosis and their presence suggests an increase risk of CAD.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Feb 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialThe absence of coronary artery calcification does not rule out the presence of significant coronary artery disease in Asian patients with acute chest pain.
The absence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) has been used to as an indication to rule out significant coronary artery disease (CAD). However, diagnostic usefulness of 'zero calcium score criteria' as a decision-making strategy to rule out significant CAD as the etiology of acute chest pain has not been studied in depth, especially in Asian ethnicity. We prospectively enrolled 136 Korean patients (58% men, 56 ± 13 years) who presented to the emergency department (ED) with acute chest pain and non-diagnostic ECG. ⋯ Most of the patients with ≥50% CAD of non-calcified plaque were younger than 60 years of age (79%, 11/14), however, 3 of them were older than 60 years of age. Forty-five patients (33%) were subsequently diagnosed as having ACS, and 38% (17/45) of them had no CAC. Zero calcium score did not necessarily guarantee the absence of significant CAD, even in patients older than 60 years, in Asian ethnicity presenting to the ED with chest pain.