Accuracy of MDCT for detection and identification of carotid atherosclerotic plaque in a rabbit model.
OBJECTIVE
There is a need for a simple, rapid, and repeatable noninvasive imaging method to accurately assess carotid atherosclerotic plaque. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of MDCT and carotid artery plaque analysis software for detecting and identifying atherosclerotic plaque in a rabbit model of carotid atherosclerosis.


METHODS
Plaques from 14 rabbits and cross-sectional carotid artery specimens were detected, stained, and analyzed. Contrast-enhanced MDCT with application of carotid plaque analysis software was performed. Bland-Altman difference plots were used to assess interclass and intraclass consistency in lipid percentage and fibrous percentage on CT images.


RESULTS
A total of 76 of the 158 samples were true positive for plaque. On the basis of histopathologic examination of the samples, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of CT for detecting plaque were 91.8%, 89.4%, and 94.5%, and the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the software for classifying lipid-rich plaques and fibrous plaques were 90.8%, 90.6%, and 90.9%. Repeated measurements by the same physician showed good repeatability, and measurements by two physicians independently showed good correlation.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that MDCT can be used to detect carotid atherosclerotic plaque and that carotid plaque analysis software can be used to measure the content of plaque composition and determine the nature of plaque.
1 Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 36 Sanhao St, Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110004, China.
Jiahe
J
Zheng
Zhihui
Z
Chang
Yang
Y
Hou
Zhaoyu
Z
Liu
Zaiming
Z
Lu
Qiyong
Q
Guo
Xiaohan
X
Li
D000818:Animals; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D011817:Rabbits; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*