Improvements in the spatial resolution of coronary magnetic resonance angiography enhance the diagnostic performance in comparison to quantitative coronary angiography.

AIMS: Automated image acquisition in combination with a 2D image navigator allows for an improved spatial resolution of coronary magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) that is approaching that of coronary computed tomography angiography. However, it remains unclear whether this increased spatial resolution significantly improves the diagnostic performance of CMRA in detecting the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).

OBJECTIVES

To compare 0.7 mm3 CMRA to 0.9 mm3 CMRA for the detection of CAD, using two-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography as the reference standard.

METHODS AND

RESULTS

A total of 81 patients were recruited to the study. The diagnostic performance of 0.7 mm3 and 0.9 mm3 CMRA to detect ≥50% coronary stenosis was compared on a per-patient and per-vessel basis. On a per-patient basis, the sensitivity of 0.7 mm3 CMRA was significantly better than 0.9 mm3 CMRA to detect ≥50% stenosis (0.885 vs. 0.721, P = 0.01), whilst the negative predictive value showed no difference (0.500 vs. 0.320, P = 0.10). On a per vessel basis, the sensitivity (0.716 vs. 0.558, P ≤ <0.01), negative predictive value (0.857 vs. 0.802, P = 0.01), and area under the curve (0.742 vs. 0.682, P = 0.04) were significantly better for 0.7 mm3 CMRA to detect ≥50% stenosis.

CONCLUSION

CMRA with an improved spatial resolution of 0.7 mm3 compared to 0.9 mm3 was superior for the detection of ≥50% stenosis.