Prospectively ECG-Triggered Sequential Dual-Source Coronary CT Angiography in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Influence of Heart Rate on Image Quality and Evaluation of Diagnostic Accuracy.

Abstract

To evaluate the effects of mean heart rate (HR) and heart rate variation (HRV) on image quality and diagnostic accuracy of prospectively ECG-triggered sequential dual-source coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).Eighty-five patients (49 women, 36 men; mean age 62. 1 ± 9.5 years) with persistent AF underwent prospectively ECG-triggered sequential second-generation dual-source CCTA. Tube current and voltage were adjusted according to body mass index (BMI) and iterative reconstruction was used. Image quality of coronary segments (four-point scale) and presence of significant stenosis (>50%) were evaluated. Diagnostic accuracy was analyzed in 30 of the 85 patients who underwent additional invasive coronary angiography (ICA).Only 8 of 1102 (0.7%) segments demonstrated poor image quality. No significant impact on image quality was found for mean HR (94.9 ± 21.8 bpm; r=0.034, p=0.758; F=0.413, p=0.663) or HRV (67.5 ± 22.8 bpm; r=0.097, p=0.377; F=0.111, p=0.895). On per-segment analysis, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were 89.7% (26/29), 99.4% (355/357), 92.9% (26/28), and 99.2% (355/358), respectively, with excellent correlation (kappa=0.91) with ICA. Mean effective dose was 3.3 ± 1.0 mSv.Prospectively ECG-triggered sequential dual-source CCTA provides diagnostic image quality and good diagnostic accuracy for detection of coronary stenosis in AF patients without significant influence by HR or HRV.