Contrast Enhancement on Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is an important prognostic tool with regard to the
detection of coronary artery stenoses. Both iodine delivery rate (IDR; the amount of iodine
delivered to the patient per second) and iodine concentration are decisive factors in the
opacification of arterial vessels.
There remains to be some debate in the literature about whether the use of high iodine
concentration contrast media is beneficial compared to lower iodine concentrations.
To date, there have not been any studies comparing intracoronary attenuation using
concentrated contrast media lower than 300 mg I/ml at coronary CTA. For a reliable comparison
of CM with different iodine concentrations, adapted injection protocols insuring an identical
IDR (in g iodine per second) are mandatory. The investigators hypothesize that usage of lower
iodine concentrations, while maintaining identical IDR and total iodine load, will result in
comparable diagnostical intra-vascular attenuation in CTA.