Abstract
Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) is an increasingly utilized, highly accurate noninvasive test for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Accumulating data have convincingly demonstrated that the presence, extent, and location of both obstructive and nonobstructive coronary atherosclerosis visualized on coronary CTA conveys powerful prognostic information, incremental to that provided by clinical variables and coronary calcium scoring. Proposed markers of future plaque instability and coronary risk, such as the degree of vessel remodeling and low-attenuation plaque volume, as well as measures of CT myocardial perfusion, may further improve the prognostic value of CTA. Ultimately, studies are needed to assess whether the prognostic information provided by coronary CTA testing results in sustained changes in patient and provider behaviors that cost effectively improve patient outcomes.
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Abbreviations
- CONFIRM:
-
Coronary CT Angiography Evaluation for Clinical Outcomes: An International Multicenter (Registry)
- CT-STAT:
-
Coronary Computed Tomography for Systematic Triage of Acute Chest Pain Patients to Treatment
- ROMICAT:
-
Rule Out Myocardial Infarction Using Computer Assisted Tomography
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The views expressed here are those of the authors only, and are not to be construed as those of the Department of the Army or Department of Defense.
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Woods, K.M., Fischer, C., Cheezum, M.K. et al. The Prognostic Significance of Coronary CT Angiography. Curr Cardiol Rep 14, 7–16 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-011-0226-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-011-0226-x