Diagnostic accuracy of dual-source CT coronary angiography with prospective ECG-triggering on different heart rate patients

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of dual-source CT (DSCT) prospective ECG-triggering coronary angiography in patients with different heart rate (HR). Methods 103 patients with suspected coronary artery disease underwent DSCT prospective ECG-triggered coronary angiography and invasive coronary angiography (ICA). The patients were grouped by HR during CT scans: low HR (≤60 bpm, n = 34); medium HR (60 < HR ≤ 70 bpm, n = 36) and high HR (>70 bpm, n = 33). The sensitivity and specificity of DSCT in detecting ≥50% stenosis were compared among subgroups where ICA was the gold standard. Image quality was scored using a 4-point scale. Results A total of 1,580 (95.9%) coronary artery segments were evaluable. Sensitivity and specificity were 82.8% and 98.4%, 88.3% and 98.7%, and 80.3% and 98.6% for different subgroups (all p > 0.05). The overall area under the curve of the receiver-operating characteristic analysis was 0.94. The image quality scores were 3.1 ± 0.3, 3.1 ± 0.3 and 3.0 ± 0.4 for subgroups ( p > 0.05). The overall average effective radiation dose was 3.60 ± 1.60 mSv. Conclusion DSCT coronary angiography with prospective ECG-triggering could be just as accurate in patients with medium to high HR compared to those with low HR.