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Feuchtner G, Beyer C, Barbieri F, Spitaler P, Dichtl W, Friedrich G, Widmann G, Plank F. The Atherosclerosis Profile by Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) in Symptomatic Patients with Coronary Artery Calcium Score Zero. Diagnostics (Basel) 2022; 12:diagnostics12092042. [PMID: 36140444 PMCID: PMC9498007 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics12092042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Whether it is safe to exclude coronary artery disease (CAD) in symptomatic patients with coronary artery calcium score (CACS 0), is an open debate. To compare coronary CTA including high-risk plaque (HRP) features in symptomatic patients with CACS 0 (2) Methods: 1709 symptomatic patients (age, mean 57.5 ± 16 years, 39.6% females) referred to coronary CTA for clinical indications were included. CACS, coronary stenosis (CADRADS) severity and HRP features (low-attenuation-plaque, spotty calcification, positive remodeling, NRS) were recorded. (3) Results: Of 1709 patients, 665 with CACS 0 were finally included. 562 (84.5%) had no CAD by CTA while 103 of 665 (15.4%) had CAD. Stenosis was minimal <25% in 79, mild <50% in 20, moderate in 1 and severe >70% in 3 patients. The rate of obstructive CAD was low with 4/665 (0.61%). The majority of patients had non-obstructive CAD (<50% stenosis) (99/103; 96.1%). A high proportion of patients with non-obstructive CAD had at least one HRP (52/103; 50.4%) per patient. (4) Conclusions: The rate of obstructive CAD is very low in symptomatic patients with CACS 0, and non-obstructive CAD domineering. CACS 0 does not rule out non-obstructive CAD and misses patients in which primary preventive measures are indicated. More than half of patients with non-obstructive CAD had high-risk plaque, highlighting the importance of quantitative plaque analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gudrun Feuchtner
- Department of Radiology, Innsbruck Medical University, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +43-512-504-81898
| | - Christoph Beyer
- Department of Radiology, Innsbruck Medical University, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Fabian Barbieri
- Department of Cardiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12203 Berlin, Germany
| | - Philipp Spitaler
- Department of Internal Medicine III, Cardiology, Innsbruck Medical University, Cardiology, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Wolfgang Dichtl
- Department of Internal Medicine III, Cardiology, Innsbruck Medical University, Cardiology, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Guy Friedrich
- Department of Internal Medicine III, Cardiology, Innsbruck Medical University, Cardiology, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Gerlig Widmann
- Department of Radiology, Innsbruck Medical University, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Fabian Plank
- Department of Internal Medicine III, Cardiology, Innsbruck Medical University, Cardiology, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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Munnur RK, Cheng K, Laggoune J, Talman A, Muthalaly R, Nerlekar N, Baey YW, Nogic J, Lin A, Cameron JD, Seneviratne S, Wong DTL. Quantitative plaque characterisation and association with acute coronary syndrome on medium to long term follow up: insights from computed tomography coronary angiography. Cardiovasc Diagn Ther 2022; 12:415-425. [PMID: 36033222 PMCID: PMC9412217 DOI: 10.21037/cdt-21-763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Background Computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) is an established imaging modality widely used for diagnosing coronary artery stenosis with expanding potential for comprehensive assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). Lesion-based analyses of high-risk plaques (HRP) on CTCA may aid further in prognostication presenting with stable chest pain. We conduct qualitative and quantitative assessments to identify HRPs that are associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) on a medium to long term follow-up. Methods Retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent CTCA for suspected CAD. Obstructive stenosis (OS) is defined as ≥50% and the presence of HRP and its constituents: positive-remodelling (PR), low-attenuation-plaque (LAP; <56 HU), very-low-attenuation-plaque (vLAP; <30 HU) and spotty-calcification (SC) were recorded. A cross-sectional quantitative analysis of HRP was performed at the site of minimum-luminal-area (MLA). The primary endpoint was fatal or non-fatal ACS on follow-up. Results A total of 1,257 patients were included (mean age 61±14 years old and 51% male) with a median follow-up of 7.24 years (interquartile range 5.5 to 7.7 years). The occurrence of ACS was significantly higher in HRP (+) patients compared to HRP (−) patients and patients with no plaques (20.5% vs. 1.6% vs. 0.4%, log-rank test P<0.001). ACS was more frequent in HRP (+)/OS (+) patients (20.7%) compared to HRP (+)/OS (−) patients (8.6%), HRP (−)/OS (+) patients (1.8%) and HRP (−)/OS (−) patients (1.0%). OS, cross-sectional plaque area (PA) and the presence of vLAP identified those HRP lesions that were more likely to cause future ACS. Cross-sectional LAP area (<56 HU) in HRP lesions added incremental prognostic value to OS in predicting ACS (P=0.008). Conclusions The presence of OS and the LAP area at the site of MLA identify the HRP lesions that have the greatest association with development of future ACS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ravi K Munnur
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Kevin Cheng
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Jordan Laggoune
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Andrew Talman
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Rahul Muthalaly
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Nitesh Nerlekar
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Yi-Wei Baey
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Jason Nogic
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Andrew Lin
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - James D Cameron
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Sujith Seneviratne
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Dennis T L Wong
- Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Monash Medical Centre) Monash University and Monash Heart, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia.,South Australian Health Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, Australia
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