View article

Initial reports indicate that coronary artery lesions might be visualized with high sensitivity and specificity by the use of recently introduced multislice computed tomography (MSCT). Current CT technology offers a temporal resolution of 250 ms. In case of heart rates (HRs) >65 beats/min (bpm), however, the reconstruction software switches from a single-phase algorithm (using data from one heart cycle only) to a biphase algorithm using image data of two consecutive heart cycles, improving temporal resolution to down to 125 ms. Thus, it was the aim of the present study to evaluate the influence of the patients' (pts) HR on image quality expressed by vessel segment visibility.

MSCT scans (Somatom VZ) were performed in 94 pts. Ten coronary segments were analyzed in each patient with regard to image quality (RCA: segments [sgts] 1–4, LMS: sgt 5, LAD: sgts 5–8, LCX: sgts 11, 12). A …