Association between duration of coronary occlusion and high-intensity signal on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging among patients with angiographic total occlusion.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between duration of the coronary occlusion and high-intensity signal (HIS) on noncontrast T1-weighted imaging using a 1.5-T magnetic resonance imager among patients with angiographic coronary total occlusion.


METHODS
The signal intensity of the coronary target area divided by the signal intensity of the left ventricular muscle near the target area at each site (TMR) was measured. Areas with a TMR >1.0 were defined as HIS. Thirty five lesions from 33 patients were divided into the following three groups: subacute occlusion (up to 3 months; n = 7), short-duration chronic total occlusion (SD-CTO: 3-6 months; n = 9) and long-duration CTO (LD-CTO: ≥6 months; n = 19).


RESULTS
All subacute occlusion lesions showed a HIS within the occlusion site. Among patients with CTO, the frequency of a HIS within the occlusion site was significantly higher in SD-CTO than in LD-CTO lesions (p = 0.013). In multivariate analyses, only an occlusion duration of less than 6 months was an independent factor associated with the presence of HIS (odds ratio 7.6, 95% CI 1.1-54.5; p = 0.044).


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of a HIS in the occlusion site was associated more with SD-CTO than with LD-CTO among patients with CTO.


CONCLUSIONS
• All subacute occlusion lesions show a high-intensity signal on T1-weighted imaging. • HIS within occlusion sites is associated with subacute or short-duration total occlusion. • T1-weighted imaging for coronary total occlusion may be useful for intervention strategy.
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan.
Kenji
K
Matsumoto
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan. ehara@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp.
Shoichi
S
Ehara
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan.
Takao
T
Hasegawa
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan.
Mikumo
M
Sakaguchi
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan.
Kenei
K
Shimada
D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D054059:Coronary Occlusion / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D062645:Percutaneous Coronary Intervention / Q000379:methods; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000175:diagnosis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Atherosclerotic plaque; Chronic total occlusion; Coronary artery disease; Magnetic resonance imaging; Thrombosis