Calcified plaque: measurement of area at thin-section flat-panel CT and 64-section multidetector CT and comparison with histopathologic findings.
The purpose of this study was to assess the blooming artifacts in ex vivo coronary arteries at multidetector computed tomography (CT) and flat-panel-volume CT by comparing measured areas of calcified plaque with respect to the reference standard of histopathologic findings. Three ex vivo hearts were scanned with multidetector CT and flat-panel-volume CT after institutional review board approval. The area of calcified plaque was measured at histopathologic examination, multidetector CT, and flat-panel-volume CT. The plaque area was overestimated at multidetector CT by 400% (4.61/1.15) on average, and the predicted difference between the measurements was significant (3.46 mm(2), P = .018). The average overestimation of plaque area at flat-panel-volume CT was twofold (214% [2.18/1.02]), and the predicted difference was smaller (1.16 mm(2), P = .08). The extent of the blooming artifact in visualizing calcified coronary plaque is reduced by using flat-panel-volume CT.
Sarwar
Ammar
A
Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge St, 4th Floor, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Rieber
Johannes
J
Mooyaart
Eline A Q
EA
Seneviratne
Sujith K
SK
Houser
Stuart L
SL
Bamberg
Fabian
F
Raffel
O Christopher
OC
Gupta
Rajiv
R
Kalra
Mannudeep K
MK
Pien
Homer
H
Lee
Hang
H
Brady
Thomas J
TJ
Hoffmann
Udo
U
D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000473:pathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*