Analysis: Cardiac CT and Cardiac MR for the Identification of Left Atrial Appendage Thrombi

The authors for this study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and four cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) studies comparing the diagnostic performance of transesophageal echocardiography for the identification of left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombi. They then performed meta-regression to determine differences in expected sensitivity and specificity between early and delayed image acquisition protocols for CCT versus transesophageal echocardiography and between CCT and CMR. Their results suggested that CCT and CMR had good to excellent sensitivity and specificity, and that “there was no significant difference in the sensitivity and specificity of CCT vs. CMR, suggesting that both modalities can be considered reasonable alternatives to TOE in the identification of LAA thrombi.”

Vira T, et al. EP Europace. 2019;doi:10.1093/europace/euy142

https://academic.oup.com/europace/article-abstract/21/1/e1/5046686?redirectedFrom=fulltext