BACKGROUND: Identification of coronary plaque composition is important for selecting the treatment strategy, and 64-slice computed tomography (CT) is a noninvasive method of characterizing atherosclerotic plaques. However, the correlation between plaque characteristics detected by CT and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is not clear. A 40 MHz IVUS imaging system (iMap-IVUS) has recently been developed to evaluate plaque composition. The aim of this study was to compare iMap-IVUS with 64-slice CT angiography for the characterization of non-calcified coronary plaques. METHODS AND RESULTS: Both 64-slice CT angiography and iMap-IVUS were performed in 19 patients (38 plaques). CT values were measured as Hounsfield units (HU) in circular regions of interest (ROI) drawn on the plaques. The iMap-IVUS system analyzed coronary plaques as fibrotic, lipidic, necrotic, or calcified tissue based on the radiofrequency spectrum. A positive correlation was found between CT values and the percentage of fibrotic plaque (r=0.34, p=0.036) or calcified plaque (r=0.40, p=0.011). Conversely, a negative correlation was found between CT values and the percentage of lipidic plaque (r=-0.41, p=0.01), or necrotic plaque (r=-0.41, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Good correlations were observed between the characteristics of non-calcified plaque determined by iMap-IVUS and the CT values of plaque detected by 64-slice CT scanning.
BACKGROUND: Identification of coronary plaque composition is important for selecting the treatment strategy, and 64-slice computed tomography (CT) is a noninvasive method of characterizing atherosclerotic plaques. However, the correlation between plaque characteristics detected by CT and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is not clear. A 40 MHz IVUS imaging system (iMap-IVUS) has recently been developed to evaluate plaque composition. The aim of this study was to compare iMap-IVUS with 64-slice CT angiography for the characterization of non-calcified coronary plaques. METHODS AND RESULTS: Both 64-slice CT angiography and iMap-IVUS were performed in 19 patients (38 plaques). CT values were measured as Hounsfield units (HU) in circular regions of interest (ROI) drawn on the plaques. The iMap-IVUS system analyzed coronary plaques as fibrotic, lipidic, necrotic, or calcified tissue based on the radiofrequency spectrum. A positive correlation was found between CT values and the percentage of fibrotic plaque (r=0.34, p=0.036) or calcified plaque (r=0.40, p=0.011). Conversely, a negative correlation was found between CT values and the percentage of lipidic plaque (r=-0.41, p=0.01), or necrotic plaque (r=-0.41, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Good correlations were observed between the characteristics of non-calcified plaque determined by iMap-IVUS and the CT values of plaque detected by 64-slice CT scanning.
Authors: Wisnumurti Kristanto; Peter M A van Ooijen; Marcel J W Greuter; Jaap M Groen; Rozemarijn Vliegenthart; Matthijs Oudkerk Journal: Int J Cardiovasc Imaging Date: 2013-01-17 Impact factor: 2.357
Authors: Lambros Athanasiou; George Rigas; Antonis I Sakellarios; Themis P Exarchos; Panagiotis K Siogkas; Christos V Bourantas; Hector M Garcia-Garcia; Pedro A Lemos; Breno A Falcao; Lampros K Michalis; Oberdan Parodi; Federico Vozzi; Dimitrios I Fotiadis Journal: BMC Med Imaging Date: 2016-01-19 Impact factor: 1.930