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Onsite Computed Tomography Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients with Suspected Stable Coronary Artery Disease Initial
Atul Kapoor1, Goldaa Mahajan1, Aprajita Kapoor1
1Department of Computed Tomography, Advanced Diagnostics and Institute of Imaging, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Insights
Computed tomographic coronary angiography (CTCA) identifies stenosis, but computed tomography fractional flow reserve (CTFFR) is crucial for assessing functional significance. CTFFR improves the accuracy of CTCA in detecting hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Computed tomographic coronary angiography (CTCA) is a key imaging modality for detecting coronary artery stenosis.
- A discordance exists between anatomical stenosis detected by CTCA and its functional significance.
- Accurate assessment of stenosis is vital for guiding revascularization decisions in stable coronary artery disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the functional significance of coronary artery lesions using onsite computed tomography fractional flow reserve (CTFFR).
- To compare the diagnostic performance of CTCA and CTFFR in identifying significant and hemodynamically significant stenosis.
- To analyze the impact of CTFFR on patient management and outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study of 100 patients with suspected stable coronary artery disease who underwent CTCA.
- Functional significance of stenosis was assessed using onsite CTFFR.
- Comparison of CTCA and CTFFR results on a per-vessel and per-patient basis, with statistical analysis.
Main Results:
- CTCA identified severe stenosis in 33 patients, while CTFFR revealed hemodynamically significant stenosis in 54 patients.
- On a per-vessel basis, CTCA showed high sensitivity (97.7%) and specificity (93.3%) for significant stenosis.
- CTFFR detected 12% more stenotic vessels per vessel and 21% more per patient compared to CTCA.
Conclusions:
- Onsite CTFFR is a valuable tool for assessing functionally significant coronary artery stenosis.
- CTFFR enhances the diagnostic accuracy of CTCA, improving sensitivity and specificity.
- Integrating CTFFR into the evaluation of coronary artery disease can refine management strategies.
Abstract:
Introduction Computed tomographic coronary angiographic (CTCA) has evolved into a robust technique to detect significant stenosis; however, there is a discordance in the anatomic and functional significance of stenosis. Therefore, patients with stable coronary artery disease need to be further evaluated before deciding for any revascularization procedure. Material and Methods A total of 100 consecutive patients of suspected stable coronary artery disease who underwent CTCA were evaluated for functional significance of lesions using onsite computed tomography fractional flow reserve (CTFFR) and the results were compared for detection of both significant and hemodynamically significant/severe stenosis on per vessel and per patient basis and differences were statistically analyzed. Impact of these differences were analyzed for the final outcome and management plan. Results CTCA detected 33 patients with severe stenosis, while 54 patients had hemodynamically significant stenosis on CTFFR. The sensitivity and specificity of CTCA for the detection of significant coronary artery stenosis per vessel basis were 97.7 and 93.3%, respectively, with a negative predictive value of 98.0%. For severe coronary artery stenosis, sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values were 51.6, 89, 68.8, and 80%, respectively, on per vessel basis with CTCA. On per patient basis, CTCA showed as sensitivity and specificity of 61 and 84%, respectively, with area under curve (AUC) being 0.92 and 0.67 for significant and severe stenosis, respectively. Discussion Onsite CTFFR is a useful tool to calculate functionally significant stenosis and also improves the sensitivity and specificity of CTCA. CTFFR detected 12% more stenotic vessels in the present study on per vessel basis and 21% on per patient basis.
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