Classification of noncalcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque components on CT coronary angiography: impact of vascular attenuation and density thresholds

Extraction of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques From Computed Tomography Imaging: A Review of Recent Methods

Background: Atherosclerotic plaques are the major cause of coronary artery disease (CAD). Currently, computed tomography (CT) is the most commonly applied imaging technique in the diagnosis of CAD. However, the accurate extraction of coronary plaque geometry from CT images is still challenging.

Summary of Review: In this review, we focused on the methods in recent studies on the CT-based coronary plaque extraction. According to the dimension of plaque extraction method, the studies were categorized into two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) ones. In each category, the studies were analyzed in terms of data, methods, and evaluation. We summarized the merits and limitations of current methods, as well as the future directions for efficient and accurate extraction of coronary plaques using CT imaging.

Conclusion: The methodological innovations are important for more accurate CT-based assessment of coronary plaques in clinical applications. The large-scale studies, de-blooming algorithms, more standardized datasets, and more detailed classification of non-calcified plaques could improve the accuracy of coronary plaque extraction from CT images. More multidimensional geometric parameters can be derived from the 3D geometry of coronary plaques. Additionally, machine learning and automatic 3D reconstruction could improve the efficiency of coronary plaque extraction in future studies.

Comparison between coronary plaque 64-slice spiral CT characteristics and risk factors of coronary artery disease patients in Chinese Han population and Mongolian

Objective: To compare the coronary atherosclerotic plaque 64-slice spiral CT characteristics and the risk factors of Han (in Inner Mongolia) and Mongolian coronary artery disease patients.

Methods: The plaques of 126 Mongolian and 269 Han patients were analyzed by 64-slice spiral CT coronary angiography. Their gender, age, height, body mass, the history of hypertension, diabetes, smoking and family diseases, the levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were compared.

Results: The incidence of plaques (P <0.05), the proportion of plaques in the circumflex branch (P <0.05), the proportion of medium-severe lumen stenosis induced by plaques (P <0.05), and the proportion of obstructive plaque involved multi-branch (P <0.05) of the Mongolian patients were higher. The plaque compositions of the two groups did not differ significantly (P> 0.05). The body mass index of the Mongolian patients was higher (P <0.05). The hypertension, diabetes, smoking history, TG, TC, HDL-C and LDL-C of the two groups did not differ significantly (P> 0.05).

Conclusion: The higher incidence of coronary atherosclerotic plaques and the more severe lesions of the Mongolian patients may be related to their higher body mass index.