Objective: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of standard axial chest CT compared with cardiac MRI for cardiomyopathies.
Methods: The standard axial 64-slice chest CTs of 49 patients with cardiomyopathies and 27 controls were blindly assessed for the presence of a cardiomyopathy by two independent readers. Qualitative and quantitative analysis included assessment of: (i) interatrial septal thickness, (ii) left atrial diameter, (iii) myocardial hypertrophy, thinning or fat, (iv) myocardial and papillary muscle calcification, (v) papillary muscle thickness, (vi) calcified coronary artery segments, (vii) left ventricular (LV) diameter, (viii) interventricular septal thickness and (ix) right ventricular diameters. Cardiac MRI was the gold standard.
Results: There were 21 (42.9%) dilated, 16 (32.7%) hypertrophic, 8 (16.3%) ischaemic and 4 other (8.2%) (LV non-compaction × 2, amyloid, idiopathic restrictive) patients with cardiomyopathies. An LV diameter of 47 mm, interventricular septal thickness of 14 mm and coronary artery/papillary muscle calcification on axial chest CT best distinguished dilated, hypertrophic and ischaemic cardiomyopathies from controls, respectively; kappa = 0.45 (moderate interobserver agreement). The sensitivity (95% confidence interval), specificity, positive- and negative-predictive values (95% confidence interval) and diagnostic accuracy of chest CT in diagnosing cardiomyopathies were 68% (52-83), 100%, 100%, 66% (55-85) and 80%, respectively.
Conclusion: Cardiomyopathies may be detected on standard chest CT with good sensitivity and high specificity.
Advances in knowledge: It is useful to assess for an underlying cardiomyopathy on standard chest CT, especially in a patient with unexplained dyspnoea.