Dear Cardiac Imaging Insider,
If you want accurate calcium scoring at retrospectively gated 64-slice CT, you'll do well to set the reconstruction phase for each individual dataset. So it's unfortunate that dose reduction requires preset reconstruction intervals, according to an ongoing study from the Netherlands.
But even that won't be enough to identify everyone with severe stenoses. Researchers from Israel report that many individuals with low coronary calcium scores are turning up with significant coronary obstructive disease at coronary CT angiography (CTA).
The results have more to say about the diagnostic power of contrast-enhanced coronary CTA rather than the shortcomings in the calcium scoring technique, according to Dr. Ronen Rubinshtein and colleagues. The two studies are highlighted in this issue's Insider Exclusive, delivered first to you, our Cardiac Imaging Digital Community subscribers.
This issue of the Insider offers other intriguing links, including a blockbuster study from the Dr. James Earls and colleagues in Virginia. The first clinical validation of prospectively gated step-and-shoot image acquisition found that the technique slashed the radiation dose for 64-slice coronary CTA by more than 83%.
In echocardiography, University of Alabama researchers found that unlike the 2D version, real-time 3D transthoracic echocardiography yielded comparable accuracy to cardiac MRI in assessing left ventricular volume, mass, and ejection fraction.
In the cardiac MRI department, two new papers offer advice on using MRI in patients with pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators. Also, radial k-space sampling was found to be superior to Cartesian sampling for examining vessels in 3D turbo field-echo MRI.
Just scroll down for more news from the fast-beating world of cardiac imaging.
