Can we finally get a coronary angiography with the least amount of dye?

Abstract

The incidence of adverse events complicating coronary angiography is still considerably high. Founded concerns about risks of coronary angiography, and mainly its inherent invasiveness, have favored the increasing request for noninvasive techniques to evaluate the coronary anatomy, such as multislice computed tomography (MSCT). Nonetheless, it has to be kept in mind that several risks and complications are the same both for MSCT and conventional coronary angiography. Rotational angiography has been shown to be a powerful imaging tool for the evaluation of coronary anatomy resulting in the use of less contrast media and less radiation, without losing the possibility to obtain a precise, efficient and fast characterization of obstructive coronary artery disease. It is likely that in the next future the overall performance, taking into account both the diagnostic accuracy and the risk of exposure to radiation and contrast media, of MSCT techniques will have to be compared to that of rotational angiography, especially when the latter is coupled with minimally invasive approaches.