Image quality and radiation dose of coronary CT angiography performed with whole-heart coverage CT scanner with intra-cycle motion correction algorithm in patients with atrial fibrillation

Objectives: To evaluate image quality, coronary evaluability and radiation exposure of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) performed with whole-heart coverage cardiac-CT in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Materials and methods: We prospectively enrolled 164 patients with AF who underwent a clinically indicated CCTA with a 16-cm z-axis coverage scanner. In all patients CCTA was performed using prospective ECG-triggering with targeted RR interval. We evaluated image quality, coronary evaluability and effective dose (ED). Patients were divided in two subgroups based on heart rate (HR) during imaging. Group 1: 64 patients with low HR (<75 bpm), group 2: 100 patients with high HR (≥75 bpm). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients and the institutional ethics committee approved the study protocol. Results: In a segment-based analysis, coronary evaluability was 98.4 % (2,577/2,620 segments) in the whole population, without significant differences between groups (1,013/1,024 (98.9 %) and 1,565/1,596 (98.1 %), for groups 1 and 2, respectively, p=0.15). Mean ED was similar in both groups (3.8±1.9 mSv and 3.9±2.1 mSv in groups 1 and 2, respectively, p=0.75) Conclusions: The whole-heart-coverage scanner could evaluate coronary arteries with high image quality and without increase in radiation exposure in AF patients, even in the high HR group. Key points: • Last-generation CT scanner improves coronary artery assessment in AF patients.• The new CT scanner enables low radiation exposure in AF patients.• Diagnostic ICA maybe avoided in AF patients with suspected CAD.• Whole-heart coverage CT scanner enables low radiation exposure in AF patients.