Patient Characteristics as Predictors of Image Quality and Diagnostic Accuracy of MDCT Compared With Conventional Coronary Angiography for Detecting Coronary Artery Stenoses: CORE-64 Multicenter International Trial

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of the study was to investigate patient characteristics associated with image quality and their impact on the diagnostic accuracy of MDCT for the detection of coronary artery stenosis.MATERIALS AND METHODS. Two hundred ninety-one patients with a coronary artery calcification (CAC) score of ≤ 600 Agatston units (214 men and 77 women; mean age, 59.3 ± 10.0 years [SD]) were analyzed. An overall image quality score was derived using an ordinal scale. The accuracy of quantitative MDCT to detect significant (≥ 50%) stenoses was assessed using quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) per patient and per vessel using a modified 19-segment model. The effect of CAC, obesity, heart rate, and heart rate variability on image quality and accuracy were evaluated by multiple logistic regression. Image quality and accuracy were further analyzed in subgroups of significant predictor variables. Diagnostic analysis was determined for image quality strata using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) cur...