Comparison of 16-multidetector-row computed tomography and angiocardiography for evaluating the central pulmonary artery diameter and pulmonary artery index in children with congenital heart disease.

Purpose: The pulmonary artery (PA) is involved in most congenital heart diseases; and in these patients it is necessary to evaluate precisely the PA configuration and development. The accuracy of 16 multidetector row computed tomography (16-MDCT) in evaluating the central PA was evaluated.

Materials and methods: 16-MDCT and angiocardiography (ACG) were performed in 26 patients with various congenital heart diseases aged 7 days to 9 years (median 1.2 years). We reconstructed coronal oblique images along the long axis of the right and left PAs and measured the PA diameter and Nakata's PA index, which were compared with those obtained by ACG.

Results: Correlations between PA diameters [R (2) = 0.80, standard error of the estimate (SEE)=1.3, n=52] and PA indices (R(2)=0.81, SEE=42, n=26) obtained from coronal oblique images and ACG were excellent. Bland-Altman plots showed a mean +/- SD difference of -0.3+/-1.3 mm for the PA diameter and +/-15.1 +/-41.5 for the PA index.

Conclusion: 16-MDCT might be useful for evaluating the central PA in patients with congenital heart disease.