Delayed-enhancement 320 row volume multidetector computed tomography for the assessment of reperfused acute and old myocardial infarction in a porcine model

Abstract

To evaluate the practical value of delayed enhancement 320 row volume multidetector computed tomography (DE-320 row volume MDCT) for reperfused acute and old myocardial infarction (MI) in a porcine model, 14 pigs underwent balloon-induced occlusion of the middle segment of the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) for 90 min. The balloons were removed and reperfusion was performed. DE-320 row volume MDCT was performed 15 min after the injection of iodinated contrast. Delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) was completed 15 min after injection of gadolinium-DTPA. The pigs were then divided into acute vs old MI groups. Six pigs in the acute MI group were sacrificed immediately and their hearts were harvested for triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) pathology. The pigs in the old MI group were reared for another 6 months before undergoing repeat DE-320 row volume MDCT and DE-MRI prior to being sacrificed. On DE-320 row volume MDCT, the size of the acute and old myocardial infarction was 23.95±9.8% and 16.93%±7.04%, respectively, which had a high consistency and correlation with DE-MRI and TTC pathology. The CT values of the delayed enhanced area were different between acute MI and old MI and were 132.5±30.5 HU and 91.2±18.3 HU, respectively (P <0.001). The CT values of the delayed enhanced areas were different from that of viable myocardium (acute, P <0.001, old, P <0.001). The diagnosis of the infarcted segments by DE-320 row volume MDCT had good consistency with the results of TTC pathology (acute, kappa = 0.76; old, kappa = 0.64). DE-320 row volume MDCT can be an effective method for assessing MI.