This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Christian, T. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Christian, T. F. Related Collections Imaging Coronary imaging: angiography/ultrasound/Doppler/CC CT and MRI Other diagnostic testing

(Circulation. 2005;112:2222-2225.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Anatomy of an Emerging Diagnostic Test

Computed Tomographic Coronary Angiography

Timothy F. Christian, MD

From the University of Vermont, Burlington.

Correspondence to Timothy F. Christian, MD, Prof of Medicine and Radiology, University of Vermont, Baird 191, 111 Colchester Ave, Burlington, VT 05401. E-mail timothy.christian@uvm.edu

Key Words: Editorials • coronary disease • diagnosis • imaging • imaging

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 

He that will divide a minute into a thousand parts and break but a part of the thousandth part of a minute in the affairs of love, it may be said of him that Cupid hath clapped him o’ the shoulder, but I’ll warrant him heart-whole.

— —Shakespeare, As You Like It

The wheel is come full-circle.

— —Shakespeare, King Lear

The study by Mollet et al on CT coronary angiography in this issue of Circulation is important for several reasons.¹ The 64-multislice technology for acquiring tomographic x-rays of the coronary vessels during the arterial phase of a bolus of iodinated contrast introduces several technical advances: improved spatial resolution (thinner slices), improved temporal resolution (less time needed to acquire an image means less time for the vessel to move), and improved spatial coverage of the heart (reduction of registration errors). Unlike previous studies, the authors attempted to analyze the entire length of all of the major arteries, not just those in which image quality was optimal. All patients had the definitive end point comparison to invasive angiography, which was not prompted by the results of the CT examination. The authors report sensitivity for the detection of significant obstructive disease of 99% and a specificity of 95%, confirming a slight propensity of CT to generate false-positive lesions in the presence of vessel wall calcification. Although the results were excellent, it is clear that this study and others have struggled with the question as to how to best evaluate CT angiography.

Article . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. F. Christian, S. P. Bell, L. Whitesell, and M. Jerosch-Herold Accuracy of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance of Absolute Myocardial Blood Flow With a High-Field System: Comparison With Conventional Field Strength J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Img., September 1, 2009; 2(9): 1103 - 1110. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]