ROLE OF CT ANGIOGRAPHY IN PATIENTS WITH CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of non-invasive dual source computed tomography in the assessment of patients with angina pectoris. We retrospectively studied patients, subjected to computed tomography for initial evaluation of chest pain. After the computer tomography, a conventional invasive coronary angiogram was performed and when needed subsequent target PCI was done. Some patients had a previous PCI or CABG. CTA was done using 320-row CT Aquillion ONE. We included only patients either with known coronary artery disease and new onset of angina or with CT results indicating coronary artery sclerosis and symptoms necesitating subsequent invasive angiography. We included 60 patients - 37 (61%) were with stable angina II - III CCS Class and 21 (35%) were with unstable angina. The majority of patients turned out to be with single vessel disease (48%). 13 patients (21%) were tested with conventional stress test prior to CT and 21 pts (35%) had previous surgical or interventional revascularization. The time interval between CT and angiography was 2.7 months and the mean interval between stress test and CT was 4.1 months. The correlation between conventional angiography and CT results was 85%. Results, obtained from CT, in the majority of cases correlate with the gold standard method conventional coronary angiography in the general patient population, regardless of the symptoms or previous revascularization.