Reproducibility of 3-dimensional ultrasound readings of volume of carotid atherosclerotic plaque

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-invasive 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasound (US) has emerged as the predominant approach for evaluating the progression of carotid atherosclerosis and its response to treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of a central reading procedure concerning plaque volume (PV), measured by 3D US in a multinational US trial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two data sets of 45 and 60 3D US patient images of plaques (mean PV, 71.8 and 39.8 μl, respectively) were used. PV was assessed by means of manual planimetry. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was applied to determine reader variabilities. The repeatability coefficient (RC) and the coefficient of variation (CV) were used to investigate the effect of number of slices (S) in manual planimetry and plaque size on measurement variability.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Intra-reader variability was small as reflected by ICCs of 0.985, 0.967 and 0.969 for 3 appointed readers. The ICC value generated between the 3 readers was 0.964, indicating that inter-reader variability was small, too. Subgroup analyses showed that both intra- and inter-reader variabilities were lower for larger than for smaller plaques. Mean CVs were similar for the 5S- and 10S-methods with a RC of 4.7 μl. The RC between both methods as well as the CVs were comparatively lower for larger plaques.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>By implementing standardised central 3D US reading protocols and strict quality control procedures highly reliable ultrasonic re-readings of plaque images can be achieved in large multicentre trials.</p

Reproducibility of 3-dimensional ultrasound readings of volume of carotid atherosclerotic plaque-0

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Reproducibility of 3-dimensional ultrasound readings of volume of carotid atherosclerotic plaque"</p><p>http://www.cardiovascularultrasound.com/content/6/1/42</p><p>Cardiovascular Ultrasound 2008;6():42-42.</p><p>Published online 26 Aug 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2531085.</p><p></p

Effect of angiotensin receptor blockade on central haemodynamics in essential hypertension: results of a randomised trial

Objective. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been shown to lower central augmentation index (cAI), an index of arterial wave reflection, more than β-blockers. We tested whether this is also true for long-term treatment with an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Methods. One-hundred and fifty-six subjects with essential hypertension were randomised to treatment with either irbesartan or atenolol. cAI and central blood pressure (BP) were determined by pulse wave analysis from the radial and the carotid artery after six and after 18 months treatment. Results. Peripheral and central systolic and diastolic BP were reduced to a similar extent A in the two groups. cAI was reduced with irbesartan, but increased with atenolol (derived from the carotid artery: -6±10 vs. -4±12% after six months, p&lt;0.001; —4±12 vs. +1±11% after 18 months; p=0.011). Furthermore, central to peripheral pulse pressure (PP) amplification was unaffected by treatment with irbesartan, but decreased with atenolol. Conclusions. Although treatment with irbesartan and atenolol similarly decreased peripheral and central BP, only treatment with irbesartan had beneficial effects on arterial wave reflection and preserved PP amplification. These haemodynamic effects may at least partly explain the reported differential effects of ARB versus β-blocker treatment on cardiovascular mortality in patients with essential hypertension