Background The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the postoperative graft patency assessment by multislice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) scan and conventional coronary angiography (CCA) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients 1 year after surgery. Methods Sixty-nine patients who underwent isolated CABG at least 1 year before the study, were subjected to both MSCT angiography with cardiac gating and CCA. The results were evaluated and compared. Results There were 209 grafts in 69 patients. All grafts were evaluated by both MSCT angiography and CCA. Seventy-eight grafts were on the anterior wall, 83 on the lateral wall and 48 on the inferior wall of the heart. On MSCT angiography, all left internal mammary arteries were visualized with 3-dimensional reconstruction and found to be patent. Of 209 grafts, 11 grafts (5.26%) were blocked, 6 grafts on the lateral wall and 5 on the inferior wall. All patent grafts were correctly evaluated by MSCT angiography (specificity 100%). However, 2 grafts that were found to be patent on MSCT angiography were blocked on CCA (MSCT sensitivity 81.8%). Conclusions Postoperative evaluation of coronary bypass grafts is possible with very good resolution by MSCT angiography. This method allows evaluation of the bypass grafts and the quality of anastomosis with a noninvasive method that is comparable with CCA.
Use of automatic exposure control in multislice computed tomography of the coronaries: comparison of 16-slice and 64-slice scanner data with conventional coronary angiography
