Clinical utility of coronary CT angiography with stress perfusion CT in preoperative cardiac risk evaluation

Background and Objectives: Vascular surgery carries high operative risk. Recently developed cardiac computed tomography (CT) provides excellent imaging of coronary artery disease (CAD), as well as myocardial perfusions. We investigated the role of stress perfusion CT with coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) using 128-slice dual source CT (DSCT) in preoperative cardiac risk evaluation. Subjects and Methods: Patients scheduled for vascular surgery were admitted and underwent the adenosine stress perfusion CT with CCTA using DSCT. Patients who presented with unstable angina, recent myocardial infarction, decompensated heart failure, or renal failure were excluded. Stress perfusion CT was first acquired using sequential mode during adenosine infusion, after which, scanning for CT angiography was followed by helical mode. Perioperative events were followed up for 1 month. Results: Ninety-one patients completed the study. Most patients (94.5%) had coronary atherosclerosis, with 36 (39.6%) patients had more than 50% coronary artery stenosis. Perfusion defects with significant stenosis were found in 12 cases (13.2%). Revascularization after DSCT was rarely performed. Four patients (4.4%) experienced cardiac events in the perioperative period: two experienced heart failure and two had non-fatal myocardial infarction. Conclusion: We cannot conclude that the stress perfusion CT, with CCTA using DSCT, plays a significant role in preoperative risk evaluation from this study. Flowever, the coronary atherosclerosis and the significant CAD were commonly found. The perfusion defects with significant lesions were found in only small fraction of the patients, and did not contribute to perioperative myocardial infarction or heart failure.