2022 Volume 37 Issue 3 Pages 480-489
Objective: We investigated whether coronary artery calcification can be assessed by non-electrocardiogram (ECG) synchronous computed tomography (CT) imaging.
Methods: Of the 246 patients who permitted to have coronary artery calcification assessed in conjunction with CT scanning, conventional scanning with ECG synchronization and non-ECG synchronized helical scanning were performed. The coronary artery calcification index (CACS) was calculated by the Agatston method and compared between the two groups.
Results: In the conventional scan group, the correlation coefficients of 78 patients with CACS ≥1, 29 patients with CACS ≥65, 20 patients with CACS ≥100, and 6 patients with CACS ≥400 were 0.923, 0.950, 0.919, and 0.943, respectively, showing a strong positive correlation (p<0.01). There were 10 patients that had a CACS of 0 in the helical scan despite a CACS result of ≥1 in the conventional scan. The mean CACS of the 10 patients was 8.6 ± 7.9, which was <65. If the conventional scan group had a positive CACS of ≥1, the sensitivity and specificity of the helical scan group were 87% and 100%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 94%, respectively.
Conclusion: The results suggest that non-ECG synchronized CT imaging is useful in detecting cases of coronary artery calcification with a CACS result of ≥65.
