title: Assessment of atherosclerotic plaques in a rabbit model by delayed-phase contrast-enhanced CT angiography: comparison with histopathology.
abstract: The aim of this study was to compare delayed-phase computed tomography angiography (CTA) attenuation values with histopathology, in ability to differentiate between fibrous and lipid-rich plaques in an experimental rabbit model. Twelve atherosclerotic rabbits underwent CTA of the abdominal aorta. The scan protocol included early-phase scans (EP), delayed scans at 90 s after contrast injection (DP(90s)), delayed scans at 10 min after contrast injection (DP(10min)), and delayed scan with saline infusion (DP(Saline)). Plaque composition was analyzed by histopathology (% of lipid-rich, fibrous and macrophage areas) and CT attenuation values in Hounsfield units. Using histopathology as the reference standard (n = 119), the overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 64-slice CTA for the detection of plaques was 59, 100 and 79% for the EP scans; 88, 100 and 94% for the DP(90s) scans; 81, 100 and 90% for the DP(10min) scans; and 53, 100 and 76% for the DP(Saline) scans. CT density measurements showed a substantial overlap between fibrous and lipid-rich plaques, and poor correlations with the percentage of macrophage areas in both fibrous and lipid-rich plaques (r = 0.408, and r = 0.333). In delayed-phase 64-slice CTA, DP(90s) images have the best diagnostic performance for the detection of aortic plaques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 250 Seongsanno, 134 Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: Young Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyo Sup
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Hye-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ji Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Kyu Ok
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Byoung Wook
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001027:Aortography / Q000379:methods*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005355:Fibrosis; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008264:Macrophages / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011817:Rabbits; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D008055:Lipids