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Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports
Published in: Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports 6/2011

01-12-2011 | Cardiac Computed Tomography (Stephan Achenbach, Section Editor)

The Prognostic Value of Coronary CT Angiography

Authors: Edward A. Hulten, Michael Cheezum, Collin Fischer, Todd C. Villines

Published in: Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports | Issue 6/2011

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Abstract

Coronary CT angiography has gained increasingly widespread acceptance as a highly accurate method for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Beyond its usefulness as a diagnostic test to identify coronary artery stenoses in appropriately selected patients, multiple studies have consistently demonstrated that the extent and severity of coronary atherosclerosis visualized using coronary CT angiography conveys robust prognostic information. The majority of studies to date examining clinical outcomes following coronary CT angiography have documented coronary artery disease either as the presence of any coronary plaque or through the number of vessels with ≥50% (obstructive) stenosis. In the future, advanced, semi-quantitative measures of coronary atherosclerotic disease burden, plaque morphology, and composition may provide additional prognostic information. It is imperative that patients undergoing coronary CT angiography and their providers understand the prognostic information inherent to modern coronary CT angiography so that the maximal yield may be realized. Herein, we review the currently available prognostic studies of coronary CT angiography.
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Metadata
Title
The Prognostic Value of Coronary CT Angiography
Authors
Edward A. Hulten
Michael Cheezum
Collin Fischer
Todd C. Villines
Publication date
01-12-2011
Publisher
Current Science Inc.
Published in
Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports / Issue 6/2011
Print ISSN: 1941-9066
Electronic ISSN: 1941-9074
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12410-011-9107-3

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