Coronary CTA is a Non-Invasive, Low Cost Alternative for Evaluating “Intermediate Risk” Patients, Even with Calcified Plaques

Coronary CTA offers a low cost, non-invasive alternative to conventional angiography for evaluating patients who are suspected of having coronary artery disease; true even if the patients have calcified coronary artery plaques, according to a study performed at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.

The study included 31 patients who had one or more calcified coronary artery plaques that were discovered during coronary CTA. Calcified plaques in the arteries were graded as small, moderate or large. Initially the accuracy rate of determining the degree of stenosis caused by the larger calcified plaques was 67%. The study is ongoing and “now with further experience, the accuracy rate of determining the degree of stenosis with larger plaques is 72%,” said David C. Levin, MD, lead author of the study.

source: ARRS