Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Apr;21(2):368-74.
doi: 10.1007/s12350-013-9825-9. Epub 2013 Dec 7.

The influence of coronary calcium score on the interpretation of myocardial perfusion imaging

Mohamed Mouden  1 , Jan Paul Ottervanger, Jorik R Timmer, Stoffer Reiffers, Ad H J Oostdijk, Siert Knollema, Pieter L Jager
Affiliations

The influence of coronary calcium score on the interpretation of myocardial perfusion imaging

Mohamed Mouden et al. J Nucl Cardiol. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores influence the pre-test likelihood of ischemia in patients undergoing myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). We investigated the influence of CAC score knowledge on the visual interpretation of MPI in patients referred for the diagnostic work-up of suspected coronary artery disease.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed symptomatic patients who were referred for MPI. For the current analysis, we selected 151 patients who underwent SPECT MPI with simultaneous CAC scoring. MPI was visually interpreted in two separate sessions, first without and then with knowledge of the CAC score. MPI results were classified into four groups: normal, fixed defects, ischemia, and equivocal.

Results: Mean age of the patients was 64 ± 11 years, 56% were male. Without knowledge of the CAC score MPI was evaluated as normal in 36%, compared to 40% with knowledge of the CAC score (P = 0.636). Overall, the addition of the CAC score changed the interpretation of MPI in 56 patients (37%). Importantly, the frequency of equivocal MPI interpretations decreased from 21% without knowledge of CAC score to 9% with knowledge of CAC score (P = 0.002).

Conclusions: Knowledge of the CAC score has a major impact on the interpretation of MPI, increasing the interpretative certainty.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. J Ultrasound Med. 2009 Oct;28(10):1349-56 - PubMed
    1. J Nucl Cardiol. 2005 Jul-Aug;12(4):392-400 - PubMed
    1. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001 Feb;37(2):451-7 - PubMed
    1. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Nov 30;56(23):1914-21 - PubMed
    1. Circulation. 2008 Apr 1;117(13):1693-700 - PubMed

MeSH terms