Report from RSNA: Dual-source CT passes test for coronary disease detection

Studies presented at the RSNA meeting suggest that the promise of dual-source CT will be fulfilled by a big boost in temporal resolution and a corresponding increase in its sensitivity to coronary artery disease.

DSCT accurately identified significant coronary artery disease, defined as more than 50% stenosis, without the use of beta blockers in a study involving 35 patients, reported Dr. Kostantin Nikolaou, CT section chief at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. The patients were evaluated using both DSCT and conventional angiography.

All 35 studies were deemed diagnostic. Significant disease was found in 17 patients with 32 disease segments. On a per-patient level, no false negatives and two false-positive cases were identified.

"At least in this 35-patient population, we reached a sensitivity of 100%. We lost a little specificity, but we were able to exclude disease correctly in all cases," Nikolaou said.

The per-patient evaluation was particularly important because coronary CT will ultimately be used to determine if invasive diagnosis is justified.

"We have to find occlusive disease and exclude it correctly," Nikolaou said. "This was successfully achieved with this patient cohort."

On a per-segment basis, eight false-positive findings and four false-negative segments were reported. In detection of significant stenoses, DSCT showed a sensitivity of 88%, specificity of 98%, positive predictive value of 89%, and negative predictive value of 100%.

For more online information, visit Diagnostic Imaging's RSNA Webcast.