title: Whole-body MR vascular screening detects unsuspected concomitant vascular disease in coronary heart disease patients.
abstract: Coronary heart disease (CHD) patients often show atherosclerotic vascular disease in other vascular territories. We evaluated how often whole-body MR imaging detects concomitant arterial pathologies in CHD patients, and how often these pathologies were not known to the patients previously. Of 4,814 participants in the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, 327 reported CHD (i.e., previous coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty); of those, 160 patients (mean age 66.4 years) were examined using MR of the brain, the heart (excluding the coronary arteries), and whole-body MR angiography. The prevalence of each vascular pathology was assessed, correlated to the others and compared to patients' histories. Of the 160 CHD patients, 16 (10%) showed MR signs of stroke, and 77 (48.1%) had a stenosis >50% in at least one extracerebral peripheral artery (other than the coronaries), including 28 (17.5%) with relevant renal artery stenoses, and 20 (12.5%) with relevant extracerebral internal carotid artery stenoses. False negative histories were reported in 12 of 81 cases with myocardial infarctions, and in 11 of 16 cases with cerebrovascular infarctions. This whole-body atherosclerosis MR screening program allows previously unknown concomitant vascular disease to be detected in coronary heart disease patients. Its prospective value should be assessed in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122, Essen, Germany. susanne.ladd@uni-duisburg-essen.de
authors.forename: Susanne C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ladd
authors.forename: Joerg F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Debatin
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stang
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bromen
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moebus
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nuefer
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gizewski
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wanke
authors.forename: Arnd
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doerfler
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ladd
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benemann
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erbel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forsting
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmermund
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jöckel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008875:Middle Aged; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging