New Technique to Detect Artery Blockages

The study was published in the October 1, 2002, rapid access issue of Circulation.

During MSCT, doctors thread a catheter near the heart and inject a dye directly into the arteries around the heart while the scanner rotates around the body. The reconstruction of multiple cross-sectional slices is synchronized to the rhythm of the heart, using an electrocardiogram (ECG). The resulting 3-D images are displayed on a monitor. In the study, some of the participants were given beta blockers to slow their heart rate, allowing even better images of the heart.

Researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) compared the 16-slice scanner to conventional angiography in a study of 59 patients with suspected heart disease. They performed MSCT and then angiography on the patients. The classification of patients as having no, single, or multivessel disease was accurate in 78% of patients, and no patients with significant obstructions were incorrectly excluded.

"Although no direct comparisons to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) have been conducted, they seem to be outperformed by MSCT with respect to identifying blockages in the coronary arteries,” said Koen Nieman, M.D., of the departments of cardiology and radiology at Erasmus Medical Center and the study's lead author.




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