Non-invasive assessment of coronary artery bypass graft with retrospectively ECG-gated four-row multi-detector spiral computed tomography

The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of four-row multi-detector CT (MDCT) in the evaluation of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in patients with at least a left internal mammary artery (LIMA) grafted to the left anterior descending artery (LAD), because of the conduit of choice in bypass surgery and the greater difficulty of evaluation with non-invasive diagnostic tools. Included in the study were 57 patients with a total of 122 grafts (95 arterial and 27 venous) who underwent MDCT (4×2.5-mm detector-collimation, 3-mm slice width, 1.5-mm reconstruction increment) with retrospective ECG gating. Twelve patients (21%) with high heart rates were given beta-blockers in order to obtain a heart rate ≤70 bpm in all patients. The ECG-synchronized axial images, reconstructed in the mid-diastole, MPR, MIP and 3D-VR images were independently and blindly assessed by two radiologists for graft patency and presence of high grade stenosis. Conventional angiography was the standard of reference. MDCT correctly classified 92/94 patent grafts and 26/28 occluded grafts (sensitivity/specificity 93%/97.8%); sensitivity and specificity of MDCT for assessment of arterial grafts were 100 and 98.7% (77/78 patent grafts and 17/17 occluded grafts). Image quality was considered adequate for assessment of significant stenoses in 62/92 (67%) patent grafts, with a significant differences between LIMA and non-LIMA conduits (44/57 vs. 18/65; P=0.002), according to the coronary vessel area supplied (anterior>lateral>posterior-inferior wall; P=0.002). In the remaining 30 patent grafts (33%), the assessment of stenoses was hampered by surgical clips, calcifications and motion artifacts. Sensitivity and specificity of MDCT for detection of significant graft stenoses were 80 and 96%, respectively. Inter-observer agreement was good (K=0.73). MDCT seems to be a valuable diagnostic tool for non-invasive assessment of patency of both venous and arterial grafts. An accurate evaluation of distal anastomoses and native coronary arteries may still represent a limitation of four-row MDCT, which will improve with the newest MDCT scanner.