Standard vs. 3-Dimensional Coronary Angiography: a Paired Comparison

Aim of this study is to evaluate whether the length of coronary segments, assessed by an experienced operator, using the "optimal view" of standard 2-dimensional coronary angiography, is over/underestimated with respect to the one evaluated automatically with the help of a 3-dimensional coronary reconstruction model. Moreover, both techniques are compared with an "in-vivo" surrogate of the real length of the coronary segment under evaluation, i.e. an intra-coronary marker guide-wire, which is a wire with markers placed at fixed and known distance along its length in its distal (intra-coronary) part. Two hypotheses are tested: (1) the length of a coronary segment evaluated with a standard 2-dimensional "optimal view" over/underestimates the length assessed by a 3-dimensional coronary model that automatically detects the least foreshortened length of the segment under evaluation, and (2) the 3-dimensional model approximates more closely than standard 2-dimensional angiography, the real length of the segment detected by the marker guide-wire.