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Calcification of coronary arteries: detection and quantification with double-helix CT
J Shemesh1, S Apter, J Rozenman
1Cardiac Rehabilitation Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
Purpose:
To evaluate the accuracy of double-helix computed tomography (CT) in coronary artery calcification detection and quantification.
Materials And Methods:
One hundred sixty patients with coronary disease (135 men, 25 women; age range, 45-62 years), of whom 138 had obstructive (stenosis of > 50% of diameter; n = 129) or mild (< 50% stenosis; n = 9) coronary artery disease (CAD) and 22 had normal coronary arteries (per angiographic findings), and 56 age-matched healthy control subjects underwent double-helix CT.
Results:
Double-helix CT findings indicated that calcification was significantly more prevalent in patients with CAD (> 83%) than in patients with normal coronary arteries (27%) or in healthy control subjects (34%; P < .01). Sensitivity in detecting obstructive CAD was high (91%); however, specificity was low (52%) because of calcification in nonobstructive lesions. Comparison of double-helix CT and angiographic findings indicated that double-helix CT was 84% accurate with positive and negative predictive values of 89% and 59%, respectively.
Conclusion:
Double-helix CT is a useful noninvasive method for detection and quantification of coronary artery calcification.