Which test can evaluate bypass graft patency with nearly 100% accuracy?

Which test can evaluate bypass graft patency with nearly 100% accuracy?

• A. Invasive coronary angiography
• B. CCTA
• C. Echocardiography
• D. Nuclear imaging

Answer: (B)

Evaluating bypass graft patency requires an imaging method that directly visualizes the graft itself. Coronary CT angiography combines high-resolution imaging with contrast to show the graft lumen and its anastomoses, making it possible to see whether a graft is open or occluded and to detect significant stenosis. With modern multi–detector CT technology, its diagnostic accuracy for graft patency is very high, approaching near-perfect in experienced centers, and it does so noninvasively. This allows you to assess both the grafts and the native coronaries in one test, without the risks of catheter-based angiography. Invasive coronary angiography is extremely accurate and is the reference standard, but it is invasive. Echocardiography mainly assesses heart motion and function, not the graft lumen, and nuclear imaging looks at perfusion rather than directly verifying graft patency. Hence, coronary CT angiography best answers the question about patency with near-100% accuracy in appropriate patients.

Evaluating bypass graft patency requires an imaging method that directly visualizes the graft itself. Coronary CT angiography combines high-resolution imaging with contrast to show the graft lumen and its anastomoses, making it possible to see whether a graft is open or occluded and to detect significant stenosis. With modern multi–detector CT technology, its diagnostic accuracy for graft patency is very high, approaching near-perfect in experienced centers, and it does so noninvasively. This allows you to assess both the grafts and the native coronaries in one test, without the risks of catheter-based angiography. Invasive coronary angiography is extremely accurate and is the reference standard, but it is invasive. Echocardiography mainly assesses heart motion and function, not the graft lumen, and nuclear imaging looks at perfusion rather than directly verifying graft patency. Hence, coronary CT angiography best answers the question about patency with near-100% accuracy in appropriate patients.