Quantitative and qualitative analysis and interpretation of CT perfusion imaging

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Rest and stress myocardial perfusion imaging has an important role in the non-invasive risk stratification of patients with CAD. However, diagnostic accuracies have been limited, which has led to the development of several myocardial perfusion imaging techniques. Among them, myocardial computed tomography perfusion imaging (CTP) is especially interesting as it has the unique capability of providing anatomic- as well as coronary stenosis-related functional data when combined with computed tomography angiography (CTA). The primary aim of this article is to review the qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative analysis approaches to CTP imaging. In doing so, we will describe the image data required for each analysis and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.