Diagnostic performance of transluminal attenuation gradient and noninvasive fractional flow reserve derived from 320-detector row CT angiography to diagnose hemodynamically significant coronary stenosis: an NXT substudy

Purpose To compare the diagnostic performance of 320-detector row computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography-derived computed fractional flow reserve (FFR; FFRCT), transluminal attenuation gradient (TAG; TAG320), and CT coronary angiography alone to diagnose hemodynamically significant stenosis as determined by invasive FFR. Materials and Methods This substudy of the prospective NXT study (no. NCT01757678) was approved by each participating institution s review board, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. Fifty-one consecutive patients who underwent 320-detector row CT coronary angiographic examination and invasive coronary angiography with FFR measurement were included. Independent core laboratories determined coronary artery disease severity by using CT coronary angiography, TAG320, FFRCT, and FFR. TAG320 is defined as the linear regression coefficient between luminal attenuation and axial distance from the coronary ostium. FFRCT was computed from CT coronary angiography data by using computational fluid dynamics technology. Diagnostic performance was evaluated and compared on a per-vessel basis by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Results Among 82 vessels, 24 lesions (29 ) had ischemia by FFR (FFR