Does IVUS improve the detection of coronary artery calcification compared to standard angiography in patients with coronary artery disease?
IVUS is significantly more sensitive than standard angiography for detecting coronary artery calcification, particularly for milder degrees of calcification.
IVUS detected calcium in > 70% of lesions, significantly more often than standard angiography. Although angiography is moderately sensitive for the detection of extensive lesion calcium (sensitivity, 60% and 85% for three- and four-quadrant calcium, respectively), it is less sensitive for the presence of milder degrees.
Mintz et al. (1995) studied this question.