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The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging

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Open Access 01-10-2008 | Original Paper

Assessment of atherosclerotic carotid plaque volume with multidetector computed tomography angiography

Authors: Thomas T. de Weert, Cécile de Monyé, Erik Meijering, Ronald Booij, Wiro J. Niessen, Diederik W. J. Dippel, Aad van der Lugt

Published in: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging | Issue 7/2008

Abstract

Purpose The amount of atherosclerotic plaque and its components (calcifications, fibrous tissue, and lipid core) could be better predictors of acute events than the now currently used degree of stenosis. Therefore, we evaluated a dedicated software tool for volume measurements of atherosclerotic carotid plaque and its components in multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) images. Materials and Methods Data acquisition was approved by the Institutional Review Board and all patients gave written informed consent. MDCTA images of 56 carotid arteries were analyzed by three observers. Plaque volumes were assessed by manual drawing of the outer vessel contour. The luminal boundary was determined based on a Hounsfield-Unit (HU) threshold. The contribution of different components was measured by the number of voxels within defined ranges of HU-values (calcification >130 HU, fibrous tissue 60–130 HU, lipid core <60 HU). Interobserver variability (IOV) was assessed. Results Plaque volume was 1,259 ± 621 mm³. The calcified, fibrous and lipid volumes were 238 ± 252 mm³, 647 ± 277 mm³ and 376 ± 283 mm³, respectively. IOV was moderate with interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) ranging from 0.76 to 0.99 and coefficients of variation (COV) ranging from 3% to 47%. Conclusion Atherosclerotic carotid plaque volume and plaque component volumes can be assessed with MDCTA with a reasonable observer variability.

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Title: Assessment of atherosclerotic carotid plaque volume with multidetector computed tomography angiography
Authors: Thomas T. de Weert
Cécile de Monyé
Erik Meijering
Ronald Booij
Wiro J. Niessen
Diederik W. J. Dippel
Aad van der Lugt
Publication date: 01-10-2008
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging / Issue 7/2008
Print ISSN: 1569-5794
Electronic ISSN: 1875-8312
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-008-9309-1

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Assessment of atherosclerotic carotid plaque volume with multidetector computed tomography angiography

Abstract

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