S Achenbach

..We evaluated the influence of heart rate on image quality and diagnostic accuracy of dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) coronary angiography...

..Coronary CT angiography allows visualization of the coronary arteries. However, motion artifact can impair delineation of the coronary artery lumen and detection of coronary artery stenoses...

..Some of the most important recent contributions have been the development of area detectors, dual-source CT, and the introduction of iterative reconstruction algorithms...

..The effect of aggressive medical therapy on quantitative coronary plaque burden is not generally known, especially in ethnic Chinese...

..This article outlines some of the most important developments of the past 12 months in the field of echocardiography, nuclear imaging, cardiac magnetic resonance, and computed tomography as they pertain to coronary artery disease...

..The computed tomographic (CT) attenuation of coronary atherosclerotic plaque has been proposed as a marker for tissue characterization and may thus potentially contribute to the assessment of plaque instability...

..Finally, CT also allows evaluation of cardiac morphology and function, but will be used for this only when other modalities, such as echocardiography and MR imaging, have failed or are not applicable...

..Further improvements in technology are expected to allow expansion of indications for coronary CTA in the future...

..We evaluated the feasibility and image quality of a new scan mode for coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) with an effective dose of less than 1 mSv...

..7 mSv for a 12-cm scan range at 120 kVp tube voltage...

..We sought to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a new prospectively electrocardiogram (ECG)-triggered high-pitch scan mode for coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), which allows an effective dose of less than 1 mSv...

..This article will outline some of the recent developments in the field of echocardiography, nuclear imaging, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and computed tomography (CT) as they pertain to CAD...

..We evaluated ECG-triggered high-pitch spiral dual source Computed Tomography (CT) with minimized volume of contrast agent to assess aortic root anatomy and vascular access...

..To determine the speed of and changes in the speed of coronary arterial movement during the cardiac cycle with electron-beam computed tomography (CT)...

..We investigated the influence of the LDL cholesterol level (LDL), other standard cardiovascular risk factors, and the extent of coronary calcification (CC) on the progression of AVC quantified by electron beam tomography (EBT)...

..Lesion length is the only parameter that may differentiate complete occlusions and high-grade stenoses in coronary CTA. For lesions > or = 9 mm, an occlusion is very likely...

..Currently, EBCT seems to permit the most robust coronary artery imaging. In the future, imaging modalities will have to be further improved and validated in order to define specific areas for potential clinical applications...

..We conducted phantom studies to investigate whether overlapping cross-sections and volumetric scoring would significantly improve interscan reproducibility of electron beam tomography (EBT) for coronary artery calcium quantification...

..The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of a systematic approach to lower heart rate for coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography on diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice single- and dual-source CT...

..CONCLUSION: MDCT can reveal coronary stenoses, but the usefulness of MDCT as an aid in accurately evaluating stenoses decreases as a patient's heart rate increases...

..Larger and appropriately designed studies will need to determine the method's accuracy for detection of coronary artery stenoses...

..CONCLUSIONS: MDCT coronary angiography with improved spatial resolution and premedication with oral beta-blockade permits detection of coronary artery stenoses with high accuracy and a low rate of unevaluable arteries...

..high-grade coronary artery stenosis in both computed tomography and invasive angiography but absence of any coronary calcification and compares the results with patients with stenoses in the setting of detectable coronary calcium..

..To compare the image quality of electron beam tomography (EBT) and multislice spiral CT (MSCT) for coronary artery visualization...

..We evaluated radiation exposure and image quality of a new coronary CT angiography protocol, high-pitch spiral acquisition, using dual source CT (DSCT)...

..We therefore assessed the accuracy of DSCT to detect regional left ventricular wall motion abnormalities in comparison to invasive cine angiocardiography...

..We compared maximum intensity projections (MIP) versus original source images (SI) in respect to detection of coronary artery stenoses by means of magnetic resonance (MR) coronary angiography...

..Because both, CT and MR, have been successfully applied to visualize the coronary arteries, this article focuses on the abilities and limitations of CT and MR coronary artery imaging...

..The aim of the present study was to evaluate image quality and artifacts as well as to record dose values for sequential coronary CTA using a 128-slice scanner with a temporal resolution of 150 ms...

..Dose concerns and patient size variability make general recommendations difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate which scanner settings are suitable for multiple weight groups to provide dose-optimized scanning...

..Purpose of this study was to compare the effect of high-pitch spiral data acquisition with prospective electrocardiography (ECG)-triggering on the x-ray induced DNA damages to blood lymphocytes with commonly used low-pitch spiral scans...

..However, we observed substantial overlap of attenuation values between plaque types so that the differentiation of "vulnerable" and "stable" plaques based on their CT attenuation is doubtful...

..Invasive angiography confirmed the stenosis, and percutaneous intervention was successfully performed...

..12 +/- 0.17 cm) and catheterization (+0.10 +/- 0.12 cm(2)). In conclusion, DSCT permits one to assess the AVA with a high-image quality and diagnostic accuracy compared to TTE and invasive determination...

..The same patterns can be observed in CT imaging, albeit at a lower signal to noise ratio. We report a case of cardiac amyloidosis with a typical pattern of subendocardial, circumferential late enhancement in all four cardiac chambers...

..In conclusion, DSCT permits the investigation of transplant recipients concerning the presence of CAV with good image quality and high diagnostic accuracy...

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..However, the potential risks due to exposure to ionizing radiation associated with CCTA have raised concerns...

..The purpose of our study was to systematically compare the image quality of dual-source CT coronary angiography using 100 kV instead of 120 kV...

..0320), whereas specificity and overall accuracy were not significantly different. Thus, contrast-enhanced BH MR coronary angiography compares favorably to FBRG imaging with regard to image quality and detection of coronary stenoses...

..To evaluate staged low-dose approaches for coronary CT angiography (CTA) in which a standard sequence was added if the low-dose sequence did not allow reliable rule-out of coronary stenosis...

..We sought to describe the performance of DE-CTA of the supraaortic vessels with a novel dual source CT system with special emphasis on image quality and post-processing related artifacts...

..We describe a new high-pitch scan mode, which has been developed specifically for low-dose ECG-triggered computed tomography angiography using dual source computed tomography (CT)...

..Various strategies to lower radiation exposure are available today, and DSCT offers specific potential for this...

..We analyzed typical morphological features of coronary atherosclerotic plaques in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) using contrast-enhanced coronary Dual-Source CT angiography (CTA) in comparison to stable coronary lesions...

..This study assessed the rate of periprocedural embolic ischemic brain injury during transapical aortic valve replacement in 25 consecutive patients...

..We evaluated a new, subsecond high-pitch scan mode (HPM), which obviates the need of sedation and to hold the breath...

..This review aims to summarize the current state of the art concerning imaging of the aortic valve by CT and the potential clinical applications...

..To compare in vivo DNA lesions induced during helical and sequential coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and to evaluate the effect of CT parameters on double-strand break (DSB) levels...

..The advantage regarding access site complications could be seen even when closure devices were utilized for transfemoral procedures...

..We determined the value of EBCT to noninvasively detect high-grade restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)...

..A significant increase of the amount of noncalcified plaque was observed over a mean interval of 17 months. Contrast-enhanced MDCT may therefore be a tool to study the progression of coronary atherosclerosis...

..2 +/- 14.7%, between EBT1 and histomorphometry 3.6 +/- 12.1%, and between EBT2 and histomorphometry -0.5 +/- 5.9%. CONCLUSION: EBT allows accurate in vivo quantification of aortic valve calcifications...

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..To compare electron beam tomography (EBT) with MR imaging (MRI) for detection of restenosis after coronary angioplasty (PTCA)...

..We thus determined success rates, procedural data, and complication rates of TR angiography in comparison to the TF approach in elderly patients in a randomized, prospective trial...

..In this case report, CT angiography allowed us to unmask catheter-induced coronary spasm as the underlying reason for isolated left main coronary artery stenosis seen in invasive angiography...

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..Sensitivity and specificity in evaluable arteries were 95% and 93%, respectively. In a per-patient analysis (81 of 84 patients included), sensitivity and specificity were 96% and 91%, respectively...

..To investigate the prevalence and diagnostic value of first-pass myocardial perfusion defects (PD) visualised by contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in patients admitted for a first acute coronary syndrome (ACS)...

..It can be expected that further improvement of CT technology will help to more firmly establish the clinical role of CT coronary angiography and to explore further applications of this technique...

..CT imaging may be an alternative diagnostic tool to visualize late enhancement in patients with contraindications to magnetic resonance imaging...

..In conclusion, DSCT may be useful to noninvasively detect in-stent restenosis, especially in stents with a relatively large diameter...

..To analyze the association among aortic valve calcification, cardiovascular risk factors, and coronary artery calcification using electron beam computed tomography (EBCT)...

..CONCLUSIONS: We found that 64-slice MDCT permits the evaluation of bypass grafts and the assessment of the native coronary arteries for the presence of stenosis...

..We assessed the accuracy of a new 16-slice scanner with 370 ms rotation and 0.75 mm collimation for detection of coronary stenoses using an analysis approach based on coronary artery segments...

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..We thus evaluated the relationship between remodeling and CT attenuation of coronary atherosclerotic plaque by MDCT...

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..To compare the presence and extent of coronary calcifications in young patients with first, unheralded acute myocardial infarction with matched controls without a history of coronary artery disease...

..Invasive angiography confirmed the presence of a thrombus; thrombus fragments were removed using an extraction device...

..It is important to note that reliable and accurate results will require use of the most advanced CT scanner technology, optimal image quality, and sufficient experience in the acquisition and interpretation of cardiac CT data sets...

..We examined the value of renal resistive index (RRI) for prevalence of cardiovascular target organ damage in therapy-resistant hypertension in comparison to low-grade albuminuria...

..CONCLUSION: Stent type and diameter influence evaluability concerning in-stent restenosis by MDCT. The rate of assessable stents is low, but in evaluable stents, accuracy for detection of in-stent restenosis can be high...

..The quantification of non-calcified coronary plaques using multidetector computed tomography has not been extensively investigated...

..Electron-beam computed tomography provides the opportunity to quantify the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in serial measurements...

..The correlation between MDCT and QCA was moderate with respect to lesion length (r2 = 0.54). In the absence of severe calcifications or motion artifacts, MDCT permits noninvasive quantification of coronary stenosis...

..Further, MDCT measurements of lumen diameters correlated well with quantitative coronary angiography...

..The purpose of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of cardiac 64-MDCT to quantify the grade of stenosis of nonculprit lesions...

..The development of techniques to visualize non-calcified plaque is interesting with respect to assessment of coronary risk, but this requires further investigation...

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..Therefore, cardiac MDCT may be a valuable tool for guiding procedures that involve the cardiac venous system...

..To compare scoring threshold and calibration method-dependent accuracy and variability of coronary calcium measurements by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT)...

..Other applications include the analysis of bypass patency and evaluation of coronary anomalies...

..Further studies are necessary to identify patient subgroups which might benefit from MSCT "noninvasive coronary angiography" in a clinical setting...

..Post-processing to reduce blurring and noise reduced variability of wall area measurements and reduced measurement bias for both wall area and vessel cross-sectional area...

..This study was designed to investigate whether contrast-enhanced multidetector spiral CT (MDCT) permits assessment of remodeling in coronary atherosclerotic lesions...

..The mean luminal area and mean plaque area were slightly but significantly overestimated with MDCT. MDCT permits the noninvasive measurement of coronary cross-sectional luminal and plaque areas with moderate accuracy...

..The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of MDCT to quantify the degree of coronary stenosis as compared to quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) using two different reconstruction methods...

..Low heart rate is an important prerequisite for excellent image quality...

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..The purpose of this study was to assess morphology and composition of culprit and stable coronary lesions by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT)...

..In addition, recommendations for clinical applications of cardiac CT imaging are given and limitations of the technique are described...