Computer-aided detection and evaluation of lipid-rich plaque on noncontrast cardiac CT.
AJR Am J Roentgenol
; 186(6 Suppl 2): S407-13, 2006 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16714617
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Noncontrast electron beam CT (EBCT) and MDCT are established for the assessment of calcified plaque, but not lipid-rich plaque. We developed software to identify lipid-rich plaque with noncontrast electron beam tomography (EBT) and MDCT. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
A computer algorithm was developed to automatically find contiguous lipid-rich lesions with voxel intensities below a calculated patient-specific lipid threshold. Lipid density and lipid inhomogeneity in Hounsfield units were calculated in the proximal left coronaries of three populations 34 low-risk patients (low-risk group < 6% Framingham risk score, no calcium), 31 high-risk patients (high-risk group > 20% Framingham risk score, no calcium), and 37 patients with calcified plaque (calcium group).RESULTS:
The mean lipid density was -19.6 +/- 3.0 (SD) H in the low-risk group, -25.3 +/- 8.2 H in the high-risk group, and -34.3 +/- 13.0 H in the calcium group (p < 0.05). The mean lipid inhomogeneity was 17.7 +/- 3.6 H in the low-risk group, 21.5 +/- 5.5 H in the high-risk group, and 29.0 +/- 7.6 H in the calcium group (p < 0.05). The mean interscan variability in lipid density and lipid inhomogeneity were 2.0 +/- 3.3 H and 2.1 +/- 3.6 H, respectively. In five patients, the locations of lipid-rich plaque correlated well with available intravascular sonography findings.CONCLUSION:
Our method may be able to identify lipid-rich plaque on noncontrast cardiac CT.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Software
/
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
/
Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted
/
Coronary Disease
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
AJR Am J Roentgenol
Year:
2006
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States