CT Perfusion Added to CT Angiography

Background In the differential diagnosis of unstable angina versus non-anginal chest pain, an exercise test is often the modality of choice for further investigation. However, in a substantial number of patients exercise testing is less informative, because of insufficient exercise capacity or pre-existing ECG-abnormalities. In patients with low pretest probability of coronary artery disease (CAD), Coronary CT angiography (CTA) has an excellent negative predictive value, but in patients with an intermediate or high pretest probability of CAD estimation of the hemodynamic significance of a stenosis has only limited specificity. CT perfusion (CTP) is a new method looking at myocardial perfusion during vasodilative stress with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of respectively 81%, 93%, 87% and 88%, whereas radiation is limited to a maximum of 5 millisievert (mSv). Aim It is the aim of this pilot study to investigate whether the addition of CTP to CTA is a feasible and safe investigational workflow in patients with unstable angina or nonanginal chest pain in the emergency department.