Slow Infusion Coronary Magnetic Resonance Imaging Effective
THURSDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- Whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) at 3.0-T, which has a higher signal-to-noise ratio, accurately identifies and rules out coronary artery disease, according to the results of a study published online April 15 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Qi Yang, M.D., from Capital Medical University in Beijing, China, and colleagues examined the diagnostic utility of 3.0-T contrast-enhanced whole-heart CMRA in 62 patients with suspected coronary artery disease.
The researchers found that the mean acquisition time was 9.0 minutes. CMRA correctly identified significant coronary artery disease in 32 patients and correctly ruled out the disease in 23 patients. On a per-patient basis, CMRA had a sensitivity of 94.1 percent, a specificity of 82.1 percent, and an accuracy of 88.7 percent.
"Whole-heart CMRA at 3.0-T with slow infusion of contrast agent allows for noninvasive detection of significant coronary artery stenosis with high sensitivity and specificity," Yang and colleagues conclude.
Several co-authors are employees of Siemens Medical Solutions, which makes the 3.0-T whole-body scanner used in the study. Two co-authors have disclosed financial relationships with Siemens Medical Solutions and Bracco Diagnostics Imaging.
