Quantification of aortic valve area with ECG-gated multi-detector spiral computed tomography in patients with aortic stenosis and comparison of two image analysis methods.

Thirty-three consecutive patients with aortic stenosis underwent a 16-row spiral CT scan. Aortic valve planimetry was performed using two methods: double-oblique reformation (DO) and 2D-curved multiplanar reconstruction using advanced vessel analysis software (VA). The mean aortic valve area determined by transthoracic echocardiography was 0.88+/-0.34 [0.53-1.88] and did not differ significantly from that determined by CT (DO): 0.87+/-0.38 [0.42-1.93] (p=0.75) or CT (VA): 0.87+/-0.38 [0.44-2.00] (p=0.69). This study demonstrates that 16-row spiral CT scan is a feasible, accurate and reproducible method for aortic valve planimetry in patients with aortic stenosis. Both methods show similar accuracy but the VA method takes slightly longer.