The influence of cardiac function on coronary arterial enhancement at coronary computed tomography angiography: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the infl uence of ejection fraction (EF) on peak aortic time (PAT) and  peak aortic enhancement (PAE) during coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA). Materials and Methods: One-hundred and twenty patients (64 men, 56 women) underwent measurement of coronary CTA with a measurement of EF within 3 months of coronary CTA.Pearson’s correlation coeffi cient analysis was used to investigate the relationships between EF, PAT and PAE, and peak attenuation of all coronary arteries. Results: Th e range of EF was (25%–70%) (mean: 55 ± 7.7). The range of PAT and PAE of ascending aorta on bolus test was 13–31 s (mean: 19.3 ± 2) and 153–435 HU (mean: 235 ± 40.6), respectively. Mean peak attenuation of ascending aorta, right coronary artery, left coronary artery, left circumfl ex artery, and left anterior descending were (561 ± 119), (476 ± 109), (505 ± 108), (467 ± 113),and (473 ± 104), respectively. Th ere was a negative correlation between EF and PAT (r =?0.266, P = 0.003); however, there was no signifi cant correlation between EF and PAE (r = ?0.027, P = 0.767).In addition, there was no signifi cant correlation between EF and the peak attenuation of coronary arteries. Conclusion: PAT was related to EF, but there was no relationship between PAE and EF.
One of the explanation is that the left ventricular EF used for our study was assessed with echocardiography which is used roughly
estimation of EF with interval of 5%–10% and may cause confounding results.

Key words: Computed tomography, contrast enhancement, coronary artery, ejection fraction