title: Coronary CT angiography in the quantitative assessment of coronary plaques.
abstract: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) has been recently evaluated for its ability to assess coronary plaque characteristics, including plaque composition. Identification of the relationship between plaque composition by CCTA and patient clinical presentations may provide insight into the pathophysiology of coronary artery plaque, thus assisting identification of vulnerable plaques which are associated with the development of acute coronary syndrome. CCTA-generated 3D visualizations allow evaluation of both coronary lesions and lumen changes, which are considered to enhance the diagnostic performance of CCTA. The purpose of this review is to discuss the recent developments that have occurred in the field of CCTA with regard to its diagnostic accuracy in the quantitative assessment of coronary plaques, with a focus on the characterization of plaque components and identification of vulnerable plaques.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Medical Imaging, Department of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhonghua
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7538-4761
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 2, Anzhen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8499-0448
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000473:pathology