Standard and Ultrahigh Resolution Photon-Counting Coronary CTA-Derived FFR Against Invasive FFR Assessment.

Portolan L., Kotronias RA., Andreaggi S., Maino A., Walsh J., Antoniadis M., Rao G., Xie C., Thomas S., Chan K., Langrish JP., Lucking A., Denton J., Farrall R., Sabharwal N., Holdsworth DA., Halborg T., Neubauer S., Banning AP., Channon KM., Antoniades C., De Maria GL., OxAMI Investigators .

BACKGROUND: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA)-derived fractional flow reserve (FFR) serves as a gatekeeper to invasive coronary angiography (ICA), but its accuracy depends on image quality of the scan. Photon-counting coronary computed tomography angiography (PCCTA) technology enables spectral standard resolution (SR) and ultrahigh resolution (UHR) imaging. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to perform the first intraindividual comparison of SR-PCCTA-derived FFR, UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR, and invasive FFR. METHODS: Between February 2023 and April 2025, 32 patients with a clinical indication for ICA underwent research PCCTA with both SR and UHR acquisitions before ICA. Invasive FFR of intermediate coronary stenoses was measured. SR-PCCTA- and UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR were computed using an on-site, machine-learning-based prototype and compared with invasive FFR. Subanalyses were conducted in severely calcific and diffusely diseased vessels. Diagnostic accuracy for predicting invasive FFR <0.80 of SR-PCCTA- and UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR and concordance in hemodynamic significance classification (<0.80, ≥0.80) were assessed. RESULTS: Invasive FFR, SR-PCCTA-, and UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR were available for 54 vessels. Both SR-PCCTA-derived (ρ: 0.490; P < 0.001) and UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR (ρ: 0.728; P < 0.001) correlated well with invasive FFR. Unlike SR-PCCTA, UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR maintained its correlation in severely calcific (ρ: 0.577; P = 0.039) and diffusely diseased vessels (ρ: 0.772; P = 0.009). UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR outperformed SR-PCCTA in diagnostic accuracy (AUC: 0.93 vs 0.80; P for comparison = 0.012) and hemodynamic significance classification (Cohen's κ: 0.70 vs 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: Both SR-PCCTA- and UHR-PCCTA-derived FFR correlated with invasive FFR, but UHR-PCCTA outperformed SR-PCCTA in diagnostic accuracy and hemodynamic significance classification.

DOI

10.1016/j.jcmg.2026.02.014

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2026-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

Keywords

FFR, coronary CTA, photon-counting, standard resolution, ultrahigh resolution

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