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SCCT publishes new guidelines for coronary CTA interpretation
Document includes instructions for both interpretation and reporting.
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New guidelines published by the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography stressed the importance of standardized and comprehensive reporting of data from coronary CT studies.
A writing committee chaired by Gilbert A. Raff, MD, director of the Ministrelli Center For Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., was developed to help draft systematic standards of practice for coronary CTA.
“Coronary CTA may provide information about the presence of extraluminal plaque and plaque composition that is not routinely available on invasive coronary angiography,” the researchers wrote in the guidelines. “Cardiac CTA shares elements in common with echocardiography and thoracic radiology in addition to invasive coronary angiography. Interpreting such a wide berth of information demands a systematic approach, one that enforces attention to all anatomical structures and to the full potential of this technology.”
The document includes one section of guidelines for interpreting coronary CTA images and one set of guidelines for the thorough reporting of coronary CTA results. The first part includes information on the use of 3-D workstations with multiple reconstruction formats, and includes instructions for reviewing 2-D image stacks, multiplanar reformations, maximum intensity projections, curved multiplanar reformations and instructions for volume-rendering technique.
The essential components for the reporting of coronary CTA results included guidelines for reporting the indication for the procedure, patient clinical data, information on the technical procedure and image acquisition data, image quality, clinical scan findings, interpretation and clinical recommendations when appropriate.
“These recommendations were produced as an educational tool for practitioners to improve the diagnostic care of patients, in the interest of developing systematic standards of practice for coronary CTA based on the best available data or broad expert consensus,” the researchers wrote. “Due to the highly variable nature of individual medical cases, an approach to interpretation or reporting that differs from these guidelines may represent an appropriate variation based on a legitimate assessment of an individual patient’s needs.”
For more information:
- Raff G. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2009;doi:10.1016/j.jcct.2009.01.001.