Noninvasive detection of coronary artery stenoses with multislice computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging

Multislice computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the main candidates for noninvasive coronary angiography; however, multislice CT, unlike MRI, exposes patients to radiation and an iodinated intravenous contrast agent.

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of multislice CT and MRI for noninvasive detection of clinically significant coronary stenoses (> or =50%).

Prospective intention-to-diagnose study.

Single tertiary referral center, Berlin, Germany.

129 consecutive patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Multislice CT and MRI were both performed within a median of 1 day before conventional coronary angiography, which served as the reference standard.

Diagnostic performance of multislice CT and MRI.

129 patients completed the study. Altogether, 108 patients with 430 vessels could be examined with both multislice CT and MRI and were used for analysis. In the per-patient analysis, the sensitivity of multislice CT (92% [95% CI, 82% to 96%]) was significantly higher than that of MRI (74% [CI, 61% to 83%]; P = 0.013). The sensitivity for detecting clinically significant stenoses was 82% for multislice CT and 54% for MRI (P < 0.001). Specificity and negative predictive value of multislice CT and MRI in the per-vessel analysis were 90% versus 87% (P = 0.73) and 95% versus 90% (P = 0.032), respectively. The effective radiation dose used with multislice CT (mean, 12.3 mSv [SD, 1.4]) in a consecutive subgroup of 73 patients was not significantly different from that used with diagnostic cardiac catheterization (11.4 mSv [SD, 4.8]) (P = 0.169). Most patients (74%) indicated that they would prefer multislice CT for future diagnostic imaging (P < 0.001).

This was a single-center study with 129 patients.

In patients referred for conventional coronary angiography, multislice CT compares favorably with MRI for noninvasive detection of coronary stenoses.