Computed Tomography (CT) Coronary Angiogram Evaluation in Cancer Patients Having CT Thorax, Abdomen and Pelvis

Overview

Currently patients with certain cancer usually have routine follow up (Computed Tomography of Thorax, Abdomen and Pelvis) CT TAP scans to see response to treatment or relapse. The study proposal allows the evaluation of the coronary arteries by modifying the current CT TAP technique without significant additional procedures, intravenous contrast or radiation - i.e. an opportunistic Computed Tomography Coronary Angiogram (CTCA) without any penalty. The question is does performing Computed Tomography (CT) of the thorax in such a way confer important additional information about cardiac risk? At the same time the investigators need to ensure that doing scan as per CTCA protocol produces equivalent image quality to evaluate other structures in the chest. A recent small retrospective study has using a similar technique suggests that it may in fact improve image quality due to less cardiac related motion artefact.

The study is a non-inferiority observational study to primarily ensure that the Computed Tomography of Thorax, Abdomen and Pelvis (CT TAP) technique produces equivalent image quality of the lungs (hence the need to scan with both conventional technique and the Electrocardiograph \[ECG\] gated technique) and secondarily to evaluate the effectiveness of demonstrating the coronary arteries in this cohort of patients who have not received heart rate control.

Conditions

Interventions