RESEARCH ARTICLE |
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Year : 2015 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 2 | Page : 6 |
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Improved image quality of coronary CT angiography using automatic motion correction
Bernhard Bischoff, Lucas L Geyer, Maximilian F Reiser, Ullrich G Mueller Lisse
Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, 80337 Munchen; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
Correspondence Address:
Bernhard Bischoff Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, 80337 Munchen Germany
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.5812/acvi.28932v2
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Background: Motion artifacts that degrade image quality of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in patients with high heart rates may be reduced with specific automatic motion correction algorithms (AMC).
Objectives: We compared coronary-artery delineation between AMC and conventional CCTA reconstruction (CR).
Patients and Methods: CCTA images (clinical single-source-64-slice-CT system) of 17 consecutive patients with heart rates exceeding 55 bpm were reconstructed with both CR and AMC during the individually best-suited phase of the cardiac cycle. Two independent readers who were blinded to the reconstruction algorithm scored image quality of each coronary artery segment (AHA 15-segment-model; 1: non-diagnostic - 4: excellent). In case of disagreement a third blinded reader assigned a final score. Two-tailed statistical tests (Wilcoxon-matched-pairs, Pearson-correlation) were significant at P < 0.05.
Results: Mean heart rate during CCTA was 61 ± 8 bpm. CCTA quality improved significantly in the RCA (good-or-excellent in 11/17 AMC vs. 5/17 CR, P = 0.018) and LAD (15/17 vs. 7/17, P = 0.031). Non-diagnostic CCTA in the RCA, LM, LAD, and LCX reduced from 16/68 (CR, 24%) to 7/68 (AMC, 10%). Significant motion correction was observed at low (≤ 60 bpm; P = 0.008), intermediate (61-70 bpm; P < 0.001), and high heart rates (> 70 bpm; P = 0.021). Inter-reader agreement was good. (inter-class-correlation, 0.762).
Conclusions: CCTA image quality improves significantly with AMC in patients with high heart rates and reduces the proportion of non-diagnostic examinations.
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