The team of investigators, led by Dr. Giuseppe Muscogiuri from Centro Cardiologico Monzino in Milan, conducted a prospective study (the PERFECTION trial) comparing the value of stress coronary CT perfusion with that of FFR-CT for evaluating patients with suspected CAD.
Muscogiuri and colleagues examined 147 patients who presented with chest pain and were indicated for invasive coronary angiography and invasive FFR. Most of the patients also underwent coronary CT angiography (CCTA) and CT perfusion.
Overall, both the FFR-CT and CT perfusion measurements were better than CCTA alone at identifying stenoses of at least 80% in coronary vessels, with accuracies of at least 92%. However, CT perfusion demonstrated a slightly higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy than FFR-CT.
The high accuracy of FFR-CT may make CCTA plus FFR-CT sufficient for ruling out functionally relevant stenosis in patients suspected of having CAD, Muscogiuri told AuntMInnie.com. Nonetheless, it would also be reasonable to acquire a CT perfusion exam in addition to CCTA and FFR-CT, especially for the improved specificity.
