Look at “heart CT” with an eye for the times

In 2005, 64-row CT coronary artery imaging was really applied to clinical practice, which opened a new era of non-invasive coronary artery examination. Based on the diagnostic advantages of CT coronary imaging and reliable evidence-based studies, the American College of Radiology (ACR), American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Chinese Society of Radiology have issued expert consensus to clarify the importance of “cardiac CT” in the screening, diagnosis and efficacy observation of coronary heart disease. In early 64-row CT, cardiac imaging required heart rate control, and despite many technical improvements and optimizations, heart rates greater than 80 beats per minute were likely to fail. Newer generations of CT (e.g., the new dual-source CT) image much faster and have almost no heart rate requirement. Especially for elderly patients undergoing emergency surgery, a fast Greenway exam can understand the risk of a coronary attack, meaning life safety. Lower radiation dose for real patient benefit 64-row CT cardiac imaging receives a radiation dose that varies depending on the scanning modality used, from 13-15 mSv with the earliest retrospective cardiac gating method (which has been compared to 500 chest films) to about 2.5 mSv with prospective gating, and down to 1.2 mSv with low kilovoltage (100 kV). A cardiac interventionalist with 1000 procedures experience completes a coronary contrast dose of 3.8-6.9 mSv with a digital flat panel vascular machine, or 10% more with a conventional contrast machine. Due to the larger exposure field than CT, X-ray scattering is more pronounced, and the scattered ray energy is low and more easily absorbed by the body. In the post-64-row CT era, the lowest dose can be reduced to 0.9mSv (normal adult earth life background dose of 3.0mSv) with the new dual-source CT, for example, using FLASH scanning mode, so that patients can really benefit. The new generation CT (represented by dual source CT) can not only show the stenosis and blockage, but also determine the composition of the plaque, and the image can be analyzed by software to find the “dangerous plaque”, which is the real “culprit” of acute myocardial infarction. “This is the real culprit of acute myocardial infarction. In addition, it is possible to perform myocardial perfusion analysis and cardiac function analysis, which are far from comparable to coronary angiography. In China, coronary angiography requires hospitalization and costs four to five times more than CT imaging. With the gradual localization of consumables, the cost-performance advantage of CT will become more obvious. High stability, avoid trauma and complications Coronary angiography is an invasive interventional diagnosis and treatment method, and complications may occur in some cases (10%-13% of arrhythmias, 5%-6% of angina, etc., including 0.3%-0.6% of acute myocardial infarction), and in very few cases, death. CT is a non-invasive examination, which can avoid these complications. Therefore, with the development of CT technology, the use of CT coronary imaging for screening and diagnosis, and the selection of coronary angiography and treatment for positive patients saves patients’ expenses, improves safety, reduces hospitalization time, and increases the positive rate for patients undergoing intervention or bypass surgery.