Dear Cardiac Imaging Insider,
Today cardiac CT is used mainly for evaluating the coronary arteries. But the modality has also shown promise in perfusion imaging, where it may someday replace physiological tests that evaluate cardiac function.
Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina found that single-scan dynamic stress perfusion CT delivered a comprehensive evaluation of coronary artery disease that was comparable to stress/rest perfusion MRI and delayed-enhancement MRI.
The result, they said, is an attractive, integrated exam for the assessment of cardiac anatomy, function, perfusion, and viability. Look for the rest of the story in this issue's Insider Exclusive.
For CT angiography, 320-detector-row scanning holds several advantages in patients with atrial fibrillation and suspected coronary artery disease. Wide anatomic coverage and the ability to scan some patients in a single beat are helpful for imaging these patients, who often couldn't previously be scanned with CT.
Of course, cardiac MR has advantages of its own in atrial fibrillation patients. A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that delayed-enhanced MRI may be useful for predicting the risk of stroke in patients treated for atrial fibrillation. But strokes aren't imminent; the information gleaned from the exam can be used to help prevent them, the authors concluded.
In other news, women treated with radiation therapy for breast cancer are at greater risk of heart disease 20 years later, according to a study of nearly 5,000 women in France. And a study from Belgium demonstrated that a handheld echocardiography scanner is sufficient for diagnosing most patients, though it has limited tools for quantification, researchers said.
Finally, dual-energy CT appears to be more cost-effective than SPECT, according to a new model study in the European Journal of Radiology. We invite you to scroll down for the rest of the news in your Cardiac Imaging Digital Community.
