Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography in Diagnosing Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is emerging as an important noninvasive testing modality for coronary angiography. The performance characteristic of CCTA in patients with advanced kidney disease is unknown. Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies specifically investigating the sensitivity and specificity of CCTA compared to coronary angiogram as a reference standard in patients with advanced kidney disease, defined as dialysis dependence or nearing kidney transplantation. Two independent investigators assessed studies for inclusion/exclusion, quality, and characteristics, while a third investigator adjudicated. Results: We identified 4 studies including a total of 217 patients, of whom 159 were dialysis dependent. Three of the 4 studies had a high risk of bias in patient selection and study flow, while 1 study rated low in all areas of bias. The studies were heterogeneous in their patient selection and CCTA protocol but consistent in their definition of obstructive coronary artery disease. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for CCTA were 0.96 (0.87–0.99) and 0.66 (0.57–0.74), respectively. When we restricted the analysis to dialysis-dependent patients, the pooled sensitivity and specificity for CCTA were 0.99 (0.74–1.00) and 0.67 (0.49–0.82), respectively. Conclusions: Based on limited data, CCTA appears to have comparable sensitivity but lower specificity relative to the non-kidney disease population.