Enter Your Email Address to Receive a
Copy of MedicExhange Member Demograhpics

Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) might become an important tool for risk stratification as a noninvasive method.

Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) might become an important tool for risk stratification as a noninvasive method, a new study shows. The findings by a team from the Fuwai Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, in China, were presented on Wednesday at the 2007 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, in Chicago.

To evaluate the ability and accuracy of MSCT in detecting atherosclerotic plaque in non-stenosis coronary arteries, the team performed intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and MSCT scans in 30 patients. A total of 94 coronary segments without significant coronary stenosis and stents were imaged and analyzed.

For the detection of segments with any plaque, MSCT had a sensitivity of 82 per cent and specificity of 89 per cent. For calcified plaque, sensitivity was 92 per cent and specificity 96 per cent.

Coronary segments containing noncalcified plaque were detected with a sensitivity of 73 per cent and specificity of 89 per cent, but presence of exclusively noncalcified plaque was detected with 68 per cent sensitivity.

"MSCT has the potential to detect coronary atherosclerotic plaque without significant coronary stenosis", concluded Dr Wenhui Wu. "Coronary plaques configuration might be correctely differentiated by MSCT, and measurements of plaques areas derived by MSCT compares relatively well with intravascular ultrasound", he said.