RADIOLOGÍA www.elsevier.es/ rx RADIOLOGÍA ISSN: 0033-8338 Publicación Oicial de la Sociedad Española de Radiología Médica Incluida en Index Medicus/MEDLINE Radiología. 2011; 53(3): 254-260 0033-8338/ $ - see front matter © 2010 SERAM. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved. KEYWORDS Beta-blockers; Computed tomography; Coronary vessels; Heart; Heart rate Abstract Obj ect ives: To determine whether the time employed in the radiological management of outpatients undergoing computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography varies in function of whether oral or intravenous beta-blockers are administered. Mat erial and met hods: This was a prospective, analytical, randomized controlled trial. A total of 40 pat ient s wit h heart rat es great er t han 65 beat s per minut e were randomly assigned t o one of two groups. Patients in group 1 were administered oral beta-blockers and patients in group 2 were administered intravenous beta-blockers. We measured the overall time from entry to the radiology department to exit from the CT examination room. We also measured heart rate, blood pressure, and the number of conclusive studies. Resul t s: The median (interquartile range) overall time was 120 (100-150) minutes in the 19 patients who received oral beta-blockers compared to 35 (27.5-67.5) minutes in the 21 patients who received intravenous beta-blockers (p < 0.001). The median time that patients were in the CT examination room was 10 (6-15) minutes in Group 1 and 10 (9-20) minutes in Group 2 (p = 0.57). The decrease in mean arterial pressure was 10 mmHg after the administration of intravenous beta-blockers compared to 3.3 mmHg after the administration of oral beta-blockers (p = 0.01). No signi fi cant differences were found in the diagnostic quality of the examinations. Conclusions: The time employed in the radiological management of patients undergoing CT coronary angiography is signi fi cantly lower when beta-blockers are administered intravenously. There was no difference in the time patients were in the CT examination room or in the diagnostic quality of the examinations. © 2010 SERAM. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved. ORIGINAL Oral versus intravenous beta-blockers for computed tomography coronary angiography? A randomized controlled trial G. Tardáguila de la Fuente*, C. Delgado Sánchez-Gracián, J.A. Aguilar Arjona, R. Prada González, G. Fernández Pérez, F. Tardáguila Montero Servicio de Radiología, Hospit al POVISA, Vigo, Pont evedra, Spain Received 14 February 2010; accepted 16 July 2010 *Corresponding author. E-mail: gonzatar@gmail.com (G. Tardáguila de la Fuente).