Evaluation of electron beam tomographic coronary arteriography with three-dimensional reconstruction in healthy subjects

In this study, the authors evaluated the performance characteristics of con trast-enhanced electron-beam tomography (EBT) with three-dimensional recons truction in defining the coronary artery lumen in healthy subjects. Thirty patients with normal coronary angiograms by selective coronary arteriograph y (SCA) underwent contrast-enhanced EBT examination. Measured parameters in cluded degree of luminal enhancement, intravascular contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and diameter and length of visualized lumen. Ventricular cavity, ao rtic blood pool, and coronary artery attenuation were found to be significa ntly different before and after intravenous injection of contrast material (p < 0.001). CNR decreased from proximal to distal segments within each ves sel (p < 0.001), with a peak of 11.2 +/-2.3 occurring in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) to a low of 4.8 +/-2.0 in the dis tal left circumflex (LCX). Luminal diameters visualized by EBT had no signi ficant difference with that of SCA (p > 0.05). Therefore, EBT angiography w ith three-dimensional reconstruction allows for noninvasive coronary arteri ography revealing long segments of the major coronary arteries in normal su bjects.