coRonary assEssment of Preoperative vaLvulopathy pAtients Using ComputEd Tomographic Angiography (REPLACE)

Overview

Preoperative detection of combined coronary artery disease by invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is recommended in American Heart Association (AHA)/American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines for most patients (\>40 yrs male or postmenopausal female) scheduled for heart valve surgery, but the low incident rate of coronary artery disease implied guidelines for the vast majority who ultimately will not undergo revascularization. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) has emerged as an alternative diagnosis procedure, which has the following advantages: non-invasive, low cost, provide information of lung and mediastinum. Our study is to evaluate the feasibility of computed tomography, instead of conventional invasive coronary angiography in evaluating coronary artery lesion prior to the heart valvular operation.

Valvular heart disease is common in China, either rheumatic or degenerative, and valvular repair or replacement surgery is the important therapeutic method. In all forms of heart valvular disease, combined coronary artery disease worsens perioperative prognosis. Preoperative detection of combined coronary artery disease with invasive coronary angiography is recommended in most patients scheduled for valve surgery, while incidence rate of coronary artery disease in patients with valvular disease showed that only 3%-19% patients were diagnosed with significant stenosis. Although invasive coronary angiography is considered a safe procedure, it still carries a small risk of major (death, stroke, or vascular dissection) and minor (inguinal hematoma) complications. Furthermore, the catheterization procedure is rather expensive, as its invasive nature involves admission to a hospital and requires surveillance by an experienced team. As a non-invasive alternative diagnosis procedure, coronary computed tomographic angiography has showed promising performance with high negative predictive value (95%-100%). Furthermore, computed tomography is a noninvasive procedure with low risk and cost, and it can be easily performed at the clinic. Except for evaluation of coronary artery, computed tomography can also provide information of lung, mediastinum and cardiac structure, which may help physicians make early diagnosis and treatment. Computed tomography is not routinely utilized in clinical practice. Our study is a prospective multicenter study to assess the feasibility and safety of adding computed tomography as a gatekeeper and perform invasive coronary angiography selectively prior to valvular surgeries.