Non-invasive Coronary Imaging with Multislice Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography

Atherosclerosis is a systemic, chronic inflammatory disease of the intima layer of the vessel wall affecting both large and medium-sized muscular arteries. The process of atherosclerosis is complex and develops progressively during time, already starting in the 2nd and 3rd decade of life1. Symptoms do not occur during the earlier phases of atherosclerosis and remain absent for several decades2. Chronic symptoms occur when an atherosclerotic plaque causes a significant obstruction of the coronary arteries, which limits the blood supply to the heart. Patients typically develop chest pain (angina pectoris) during exercise, when the heart needs more oxygen, but symptoms disappear after a short period of rest. Acute clinical manifestations may develop from advanced, high-risk lesions (e.g. plaques with a large necrotic, lipid-rich core and thin fibrous cap), which ruptures causing a thrombotic lesion with complete or partial blockage of the blood supply to the heart followed by myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death. As in many other industrialized countries, atherosclerosis is the number one cause of mortality in the Netherlands3. Conventional coronary angiography is considered to be the gold standard to evaluate the impact of atherosclerosis on the coronary lumen. This is an invasive technique that requires puncture of a peripheral artery, advancement of a catheter towards the heart, and injection of contrast material directly into the coronary arteries. During this procedure, conventional X-ray images are obtained which allows real-time evaluation of high-resolution images of the coronary lumen. The degree of coronary stenoses can be calculated using quantitative contour detection algorithms

豪雨による自然斜面の表層崩壊メカニズムおよび対策に関する研究

博士（工学）神戸大

Visual claudicatio: Diagnosis with 64-slice computed tomography

We present a case of a 78-year-old male referred presented to our institution with amaurosis fugax after walking 20 steps ("visual claudicatio"). Duplex ultrasound was not able to visualize the carotid arteries. Multislice computed tomography (Sensation 64 Cardiac, Siemens, Germany) of the cerebro-vascular circulation was performed from its origin at the level of the aortic arch to the circle of Willis. The investigation demonstrated a complete occlusion of both common carotid arteries at their origin and a severe origo stenosis of both vertebral arteries. An important collateral circulation of the vertebral arteries through the minor vessels of the neck was also displayed. Both comunicans posterior arteries were small but patent. The intra-cranial arteries were patent. Multislice CT of the cerebro-vascular circulation is an optimal tool for a comprehensive evaluation when duplex ultrasound fails

Influence of intracoronary attenuation on coronary plaque measurements using multislice computed tomography: Observations in an ex vivo model of coronary computed tomography angiography

Assessment of attenuation (measured in Hounsfield units, HU) of human coronary plaques was performed using multislice computed tomography (MSCT) in an ex vivo model. In three ex vivo specimens of left coronary arteries in oil, MSCT was performed after intracoronary injection of four solutions of contrast material (400 mgI/ml iomeprol). The four solutions were diluted as follows: 1/∞, 1/200, 1/80, and 1/20. All scans were performe

Diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography coronary angiography in patients with a zero calcium score

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice CT coronary angiography (CT-CA) for the detection of significant coronary artery stenosis in patients with zero on the Agatston Calcium Score (CACS). We enrolled 279 consecutive patients (96 male, mean age 48±12 years) with suspected coronary artery disease. Patients were symptomatic (n=208) or asymptomatic (n=71), and underwent conventional coronary angiography (CAG). For CT-CA we administered an IV bolus of 100 ml of iodinated contrast material. CT-CA was compared to CAG using a threshold for significant stenosis of ≤50%. The prevalence of disease demonstrated at CAG was 15% (1.4% in asymptomatic). The population at CAG showed no or non-significant disease in 85% (238/279), single vessel disease in 9% (25/279), and multi-vessel disease in 6% (16/279). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of CT-CA vs. CAG on the patient level were 100%, 95%, 76%, and 100% in the overall population and 100%, 100%, 100%, and 100% in asymptomatic patients, respectively. CT-CA proves high diagnostic performance in patients with or without symptoms and with zero CACS. The prevalence of significant disease detected by CT-CA was not negligible in asymptomatic patients. The role of CT-CA in asymptomatic patients remains uncertain

Diagnostic accuracy of multislice computed tomography coronary angiography is improved at low heart rates

Purpose: Assess the effect of heart rate on diagnostic accuracy for the detection of significant coronary artery stenosis using 16-row multislice computed tomography (MSCT). Material and methods: About 120 patients (105 males; 59 ± 11 years) with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent conventional coronary angiography (CA) and MSCT-CA were retrospectively enrolled for the study. Patients underwent a MSCT-CA (Sensation 16, Siemens, Germany), with the following protocol: Collimation 16 × 0.75 mm, gantry rotation time 420 ms, feed/rotation 3.0 mm, kV 120, mAs 400-500. The protocol for contrast material administration was 100 ml of Iodixanol (Visipaque 320 mg l/ml, Amersham, UK) at 4 ml/s and the delay was defined with a bolus tracking technique. In all patients the mean heart rate (HR) during the scan was used as a criteria to divide the population in two groups of 60 patients each. In one group (Low HR) the 60 patients with lower heart rates, and in the other group (High HR) the patients with higher heart rates. In the two groups diagnostic accuracy (per coronary segment) for the detection of significant stenosis (≥50% lumen reduction) was evaluated in vessels ≥2 mm of diameter using quantitative CA as reference standard. The difference in diagnostic accuracy were compared with a Chi2 test and a p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding age, gender, weight, mean intravascular attenuation, and calcium score. Overall 1310 (652 for Low HR and 658 for High HR) segments with 219 (105 for Low HR and 114 for High HR) significant lesions were available for the analysis. The average heart rate was 52 ± 4HU and 63 ± 5HU for Low HR and High HR, respectively (p < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity were 92 and 96% for Low HR and 90 and 92% for High HR (p < 0.05). There were 22 vs. 44 false positives, and 8 vs. 12 false negatives in the Low HR and High HR, respectively. Conclusion: Increasing HR significantly deteriorates diagnostic accuracy in MSCT-CA

Diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography for the detection of in-stent restenosis: A meta-analysis

Background: We sought to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) compared with invasive coronary angiography for in-stent restenosis (ISR) detection. Methods: MEDLINE, Cochrane library, and BioMed Central database searches were performed until April 2009 for original articles. Inclusion criteria were (1) 64-MDCT was used as a diagnostic test for ISR, with >50% diameter stenosis selected as the cut-off criterion for significant ISR, using invasive coronary angiography and quantitative coronary angiography as the standard of reference; (2) absolute numbers of true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative results could be derived. Standard meta-analytic methods were applied. Results: Nine studies with a total of 598 patients with 978 stents included were considered eligible. On average, 9% of stents were unassessable (range 0-42%). Accuracy tests with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing 64-MDCT vs invasive coronary angiography showed that pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio (random effect model) values were: 86% (95% CI 80-91%), 93% (95% CI 91-95%), 12.32 (95% CI 7.26-20.92), 0.18 (95% CI 0.12-0.28) for binary ISR detection. The symmetric area under the curve value was 0.94, indicating good agreement between 64-MDCT and invasive coronary angiography. Conclusions: 64-MDCT has a good diagnostic accuracy for ISR detection with a particularly high negative predictive value. However, still a relatively large proportion of stents remains uninterpretable. Accordingly, only in selected patients, 64-MDCT may serve as a potential alternative noninvasive method to rule out ISR