![]() 5 6 7 However, concepts that rely on definition of percent luminal narrowing limit our understanding of atherosclerosis and its effects on the arterial wall. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Prior investigations using electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT) have related its potential for noninvasive quantification of coronary artery calcium in regard to atherosclerotic luminal narrowing in clinical angiographic 1 2 3 4 and histopathologic correlative studies. Mural coronary artery calcium has been shown to be diagnostic of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Furthermore, minimal diffuse segmental coronary plaque could be present despite the absence of coronary calcium detectable by EBCT.Ĭonclusions This histopathologic study confirms an intimate relation between whole heart, coronary artery, and segmental coronary atherosclerotic plaque area and EBCT coronary calcium area but suggests that there is a threshold value for plaque area below which coronary calcium is either absent or not detectable by this methodology. However, coronary plaque area was on the order of five times greater than calcium area. The sums of histological plaque areas versus the sums of calcium areas were highly correlated for each heart and for each coronary artery. Coronary artery calcium and coronary artery plaque areas were correlated for the hearts as a whole, for individual coronary arteries, and for individual coronary artery segments. Each artery was divided into corresponding 3-mm segments, representative histological sections were stained, and atherosclerotic plaque area per segment (mm 2) was quantified. ![]() Coronary calcium area was defined as one or more pixels with a density >130 Hounsfield units (0.18 mm 2/pixel). Methods and Results Thirty-eight coronary arteries from 13 autopsy hearts were dissected, straightened, and scanned with EBCT in 3-mm contiguous increments. Customer Service and Ordering Informationīackground Coronary calcium identified by electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT) correlates poorly with luminal atherosclerotic narrowing, but calcium, an intimate part of coronary plaque, may be more directly related to atheromatous plaque area.Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology. ![]() Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).Circ: Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes. ![]() Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB). ![]()
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