CT angiography for safe discharge of patients with possible acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND: Admission rates among patients presenting to emergency departments with possible acute coronary syndromes are high, although for most of these patients, the symptoms are ultimately found not to have a cardiac cause. Coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) has a very high negative predictive value for the detection of coronary disease, but its usefulness in determining whether discharge of patients from the emergency department is safe is not well established. METHODS: We randomly assigned low-to-intermediate-risk patients presenting with possible acute coronary syndromes, in a 2:1 ratio, to undergo CCTA or to receive traditional care. Patients were enrolled at five centers in the United States. Patients older than 30 years of age with a Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction risk score of 0 to 2 and signs or symptoms warranting admission or testing were eligible. The primary outcome was safety, assessed in the subgroup of patients with a negative CCTA examination, with safety defined as the absence of myocardial infarction and cardiac death during the first 30 days after presentation. RESULTS: We enrolled 1370 subjects: 908 in the CCTA group and 462 in the group receiving traditional care. The baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. Of 640 patients with a negative CCTA examination, none died or had a myocardial infarction within 30 days (0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0 to 0.57). As compared with patients receiving traditional care, patients in the CCTA group had a higher rate of discharge from the emergency department (49.6% vs. 22.7%; difference, 26.8 percentage points; 95% CI, 21.4 to 32.2), a shorter length of stay (median, 18.0 hours vs. 24.8 hours; P<0.001), and a higher rate of detection of coronary disease (9.0% vs. 3.5%; difference, 5.6 percentage points; 95% CI, 0 to 11.2). There was one serious adverse event in each group. CONCLUSIONS: A CCTA-based strategy for low-to-intermediate-risk patients presenting with a possible acute coronary syndrome appears to allow the safe, expedited discharge from the emergency department of many patients who would otherwise be admitted. (Funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network Foundation; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00933400.).

Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary arteryin an adult.

Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare congenital heart defect that usually presents before the age of 1 year. Several surgical options exist for the correction of ALCAPA; however, debate continues regarding the optimal repair technique in adult populations. We report the case of successful surgical repair of ALCAPA with a direct aortic implantation technique in a 44-year-old mother of 4 children.

Giant pericardial lymphangioma--imaging, surgical, and pathologic correlations.

Pericardial lymphangiomas are extremely rare benign tumors of lymphatic origin that are usually diagnosed in children. These tumors are often asymptomatic but can cause symptoms secondary to mass effect. We report a case of a giant pericardial lymphangioma that was incidentally discovered in a 58-year-old woman and present imaging, surgical, and pathologic correlations.

Compressive sensing-based interior tomography: preliminary clinical application.

Compressive sensing (CS)-based interior tomography is a state-of-the-art method for accurate image reconstruction from only locally truncated projections. Here, we report our preliminary interior tomography results reconstructed from raw projections of a patient acquired on a GE Discovery CT750 HD scanner. This is the first clinical application of the CS-based interior reconstruction techniques, and the results show an excellent match with those reconstructed from global projections.

Iatrogenic intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia diagnosed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

Intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernias are very uncommon and are most typically caused by high-force blunt trauma. Other iatrogenic causes such as prior surgical formation of a pericardial window have been described, but are exceedingly rare. We present a case of an intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia in a patient with a prior pericardial window in which the diagnosis was unclear using conventional imaging modalities, but was established using cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

Primary cardiac lymphoma diagnosed by multiphase-gated cardiac CT and CT-guided percutaneous trans-sternal biopsy.

We present a case of a primary cardiac B-cell lymphoma where a multiphase-gated cardiac CT exam helped to successfully guide trans-sternal needle biopsy to establish a tissue diagnosis.

Imaging of infective endocarditis with cardiac CT angiography.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a disease characterized by high rates of morbidity and mortality that can present with a spectrum of clinical and imaging findings. Cardiac-gated computed tomographic angiography (CTA) has been shown to be highly accurate in evaluation of both coronary artery disease and structural heart disease and is now considered an appropriate preoperative imaging modality in patients undergoing noncoronary cardiac surgery. This review discusses the use of cardiac-gated CTA in preoperative evaluation of patients with IE, with emphasis on imaging findings of valvular and perivalvular complications. Topics include technique tips specific to valve imaging with cardiac-gated CTA, potential benefits of cardiac-gated CTA compared with other imaging modalities such as echocardiography, limitations of imaging patients with IE with cardiac-gated CTA, and an overview of potential findings in patients with IE, including vegetations, valve perforations, perivalvular abscesses, perivalvular pseudoaneurysms, and fistulas. Throughout this review, cardiac-gated CTA findings of IE are presented with echocardiographic and operative correlation to emphasize that cardiac-gated CTA may in select cases provide incremental benefit in the preoperative assessment of patients with IE.

Optimization of radiation dose reduction in cardiac computed tomographic angiography.

Cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) has evolved at an unprecedented pace over the past decade, during which time it has proven to be an accurate and effective tool for imaging of the heart in a growing list of clinical applications. However, the rapid growth in the use of CT imaging in general has prompted appropriate concerns regarding increasing medical radiation exposure to patients, particularly with regard to potential long-term risks of radiation-induced malignancy on both individual and population levels. As with all medical imaging modalities, imaging the heart with CCTA should be performed in a manner that achieves diagnostic image quality while maintaining patient radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable (As Low As Reasonably Achievable [ALARA] principle). The goal of this article is to provide the reader with a wide-ranging review of both primary and secondary techniques that are currently available to minimize patient radiation exposure. Some of the techniques described in this article are universal, whereas others may be scanner specific. By gaining a thorough understanding of the various tools and methodologies employed for reduction of radiation exposure, the cardiac imager should be able to formulate CCTA protocols appropriate for their equipment and their clinical applications, in a manner that optimally preserves diagnostic image quality and minimizes patient radiation dose.

Pseudoaneurysm of the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa: a delayed complication of aortic root replacement.

A 41-year-old male with prior history of aortic root replacement for infectious endocarditis was found to have a pseudoaneurysm in the fibrous continuity between the aortic and mitral valves: the so called "mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa." Preoperative cardiac-gated computed tomographic angiography and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography imaging findings used to guide surgical repair are presented.

Anomalous intracavitary right coronary artery shown by cardiac CT: a potential hazard to be aware of before various interventions.

Intracavitary right coronary arteries (RCAs) are uncommon (incidence of 0.09%-0.1%), having previously been reported nearly exclusively in autopsy series. However, more recently this entity has been detected prospectively by noninvasive cardiac computed tomography. Because many interventional procedures, including pacemaker placement and atrial flutter ablation, may be influenced by the presence of an intracavitary RCA, this entity is important to recognize. We report two cases of intracavitary right coronary artery discovered prospectively by cardiac computed tomography. In one of these cases, interventional management was altered based on our findings.

Blood pool inversion volume-rendering technique for visualization of the aortic valve.

This brief review focuses on use of an advanced postprocessing volume-rendering technique for cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CTA) called blood pool inversion (BPI). In particular, we focus on the application of BPI in visualization of the aortic valve. Practical tips and tricks about aortic valve imaging with cardiac CTA are given. Topics include optimization of patient preparation and image acquisition; strengths and limitations of standard postprocessing techniques such as multiplanar reconstruction, maximal intensity projection, and minimum intensity projection; and use of advanced volume rendering with BPI for assessment of aortic valve disease.

Constrictive pericarditis after cardiac transplantation: a case report and literature review.

We present a patient who was found to have constrictive pericarditis 6 months after cardiac allograft transplantation. The many invasive and non-invasive diagnostic procedures that were undertaken are reviewed, as is the gross pathology seen during surgery. In addition, the entity of constriction in the transplant patient is placed in context by an examination of the previous literature.