Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 26, Issue 1 , Pages 21-29, January 2010

Quantitative Assessment of Image Quality in 64-slice-computed Tomography of Coronary Arteries in Subjects Undergoing Screening for Coronary Artery Disease

  • Li-Hwa Yang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ding-Kwo Wu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chiao-Yun Chen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Gin-Chung Liu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Tsyh-Jyi Hsieh

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Twei-Shiun Jaw

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shu-Yuan Huang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chien-Chung Lin

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Jui-Sheng Hsu

      Affiliations

    • Graduate Institute of Medicine College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr Jui-Sheng Hsu, Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, 482 San-Ming Road, Hsiao-Kang District, 812 Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Received 20 August 2009; accepted 9 September 2009.

Accurate and consistent visualization of the entire coronary system with high-grade imaging quality is crucial for routine applications of multi-detector-computed tomography (MDCT) coronary angiography. To determine the imaging quality of 64-slice-MDCT coronary angiography, we respectively explored the quantitative parameters of imaging quality in 105 consecutive subjects (71 men, 34 women; aged 58.66 ± 10.62 years) who underwent 64-slice-MDCT coronary angiography to screen for coronary disease. The interobserver agreement for semi-quantitative image quality, visible length, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the coronary arteries was good. The SNR and CNR of the proximal segments of the coronary arteries were superior to that of the distal segments of coronary arteries (p < 0.001). The visible length of the stenosed right coronary artery was significantly shorter than that of the non-stenosed right coronary artery (p = 0.03). The SNR and CNR of the stenosed and non-stenosed coronary arteries revealed no significant difference (p > 0.05). Body weight and body mass index were inversely related to the SNR and CNR of the aorta (p < 0.001). In conclusion, 64-slice-MDCT coronary angiography can provide excellent imaging quality of coronary arteries in subjects undergoing screening for coronary disease, although the SNR and CNR were relatively low at the distal segments of coronary arteries.

Key Words:  computed tomography , coronary artery

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PII: S1607-551X(10)70004-8

doi:10.1016/S1607-551X(10)70004-8

Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 26, Issue 1 , Pages 21-29, January 2010

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