Cargando…

Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT

Zero calcium score may not reflect the absence of calcifications as small calcifications could be missed. This study aimed to evaluate minimal size and minimal attenuation of coronary calcifications detectable by computed tomography (CT) and to determine the minimal spatial resolution required for d...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kristanto, Wisnumurti, van Ooijen, Peter M. A., Groen, Jaap M., Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn, Oudkerk, Matthijs
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Netherlands 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3360866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21509430
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10554-011-9869-3
_version_ 1782234060933824512
author Kristanto, Wisnumurti
van Ooijen, Peter M. A.
Groen, Jaap M.
Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn
Oudkerk, Matthijs
author_facet Kristanto, Wisnumurti
van Ooijen, Peter M. A.
Groen, Jaap M.
Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn
Oudkerk, Matthijs
author_sort Kristanto, Wisnumurti
collection PubMed
description Zero calcium score may not reflect the absence of calcifications as small calcifications could be missed. This study aimed to evaluate minimal size and minimal attenuation of coronary calcifications detectable by computed tomography (CT) and to determine the minimal spatial resolution required for detecting calcification onset. Using open source CT simulation software, CTSim(©), several 50%-stenotic coronary artery phantoms were designed with 5 μm resolution, realistic morphology and tissue-specific Hounsfield Unit (HU) values. The plaque had an attenuation resembling fibrous plaque and contained a single calcification. X-ray projections were simulated with settings resembling non-contrast-enhanced 64 multi detector-row CT (64-MDCT). Scanning and reconstruction were simulated with spatial resolution of a 64-MDCT (0.4mm) and of a MicroCT (48 μm). Starting from a single calcium granule, the calcification was simulated to grow in size and attenuation until it could be detected using clinically accepted calcium determination scheme on MicroCT and 64-MDCT images. The smallest coronary calcifications detectable at MicroCT and 64-MDCT, which had a realistic attenuation (−1,024 to 3,072 HU), were of 25 μm and 215 μm diameter, respectively. The area was overestimated 7.7 and 8.8 times, respectively. Calcifications with smaller size need to have an unrealistically high attenuation to be detectable by 64-MDCT. In conclusion, 64-MDCT is only able to detect coronary calcifications with minimal diameter of 215 μm. Consequently, early onset of calcification in coronary plaque will remain invisible when using CT and a zero calcium score can not exclude the presence of coronary calcification.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3360866
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2011
publisher Springer Netherlands
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-33608662012-06-13 Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT Kristanto, Wisnumurti van Ooijen, Peter M. A. Groen, Jaap M. Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn Oudkerk, Matthijs Int J Cardiovasc Imaging Original Paper Zero calcium score may not reflect the absence of calcifications as small calcifications could be missed. This study aimed to evaluate minimal size and minimal attenuation of coronary calcifications detectable by computed tomography (CT) and to determine the minimal spatial resolution required for detecting calcification onset. Using open source CT simulation software, CTSim(©), several 50%-stenotic coronary artery phantoms were designed with 5 μm resolution, realistic morphology and tissue-specific Hounsfield Unit (HU) values. The plaque had an attenuation resembling fibrous plaque and contained a single calcification. X-ray projections were simulated with settings resembling non-contrast-enhanced 64 multi detector-row CT (64-MDCT). Scanning and reconstruction were simulated with spatial resolution of a 64-MDCT (0.4mm) and of a MicroCT (48 μm). Starting from a single calcium granule, the calcification was simulated to grow in size and attenuation until it could be detected using clinically accepted calcium determination scheme on MicroCT and 64-MDCT images. The smallest coronary calcifications detectable at MicroCT and 64-MDCT, which had a realistic attenuation (−1,024 to 3,072 HU), were of 25 μm and 215 μm diameter, respectively. The area was overestimated 7.7 and 8.8 times, respectively. Calcifications with smaller size need to have an unrealistically high attenuation to be detectable by 64-MDCT. In conclusion, 64-MDCT is only able to detect coronary calcifications with minimal diameter of 215 μm. Consequently, early onset of calcification in coronary plaque will remain invisible when using CT and a zero calcium score can not exclude the presence of coronary calcification. Springer Netherlands 2011-04-21 2012 /pmc/articles/PMC3360866/ /pubmed/21509430 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10554-011-9869-3 Text en © The Author(s) 2011 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Kristanto, Wisnumurti
van Ooijen, Peter M. A.
Groen, Jaap M.
Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn
Oudkerk, Matthijs
Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT
title Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT
title_full Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT
title_fullStr Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT
title_full_unstemmed Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT
title_short Small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-MDCT and MicroCT
title_sort small calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque simulation model: minimal size and attenuation detectable by 64-mdct and microct
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3360866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21509430
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10554-011-9869-3
work_keys_str_mv AT kristantowisnumurti smallcalcifiedcoronaryatheroscleroticplaquesimulationmodelminimalsizeandattenuationdetectableby64mdctandmicroct
AT vanooijenpeterma smallcalcifiedcoronaryatheroscleroticplaquesimulationmodelminimalsizeandattenuationdetectableby64mdctandmicroct
AT groenjaapm smallcalcifiedcoronaryatheroscleroticplaquesimulationmodelminimalsizeandattenuationdetectableby64mdctandmicroct
AT vliegenthartrozemarijn smallcalcifiedcoronaryatheroscleroticplaquesimulationmodelminimalsizeandattenuationdetectableby64mdctandmicroct
AT oudkerkmatthijs smallcalcifiedcoronaryatheroscleroticplaquesimulationmodelminimalsizeandattenuationdetectableby64mdctandmicroct