Effect of a breathing exercise program on coronary artery motion artifacts in 256 rows of coronary computed tomography angiography in patients with different heart rate variability
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Background: Coronary artery motion artifact is a major limitation of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of respiratory status on coronary motion artifacts under different heart rate variability (HRV) conditions. Methods: Between January 2022 and January 2024, 935 CCTA patients were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to a breath-holding group (group A) and a free-breathing group (group B), and each group was subdivided into three subgroups based on HRV ≤3 bpm, HRV 4-10 bpm, and HRV ≥11 bpm. Subjective image quality was assessed using a four-point Likert scale: 4 points = excellent, no artifacts; 1 point = severe artifacts, unassessable. Between-group comparisons were made to contrast and analyze the subjective image quality of the three subgroups in the free-breathing protocol and the breath-holding protocol. Within-group comparisons were compared and contrasted to analyze the relationship between subjective image quality and HRV. Results: 3.92±0.38) free-breathing in the three subgroups did not show statistically significant differences on coronary artery motion artifacts (all P>0.05). For within-group comparisons, subjective image quality was independent of HRV. Conclusions: The combination of a 140-ms time resolution, a 16-cm wide detector, and the second-generation reconstruction algorithm can be used jointly to realize free-breathing CCTA under different HRV conditions, which broadens the application range of CCTA.
Authors: Hongbing Ma, Chang Chen, Yingying Ge, Cheng Yang, Junqing Mei, Dan Zhou
Institution: Nanjing Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409017891