• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.270-296
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• 2024

Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is recognized for its role as a gatekeeper for invasive coronary angiography in patients suspected of coronary artery disease because it can detect significant coronary stenosis with high accuracy. However, heavy plaque in the coronary artery makes it difficult to visualize the lumen, which can lead to errors in the interpretation of the CCTA results. This is primarily due to the limited spatial resolution of CT scanners, resulting in blooming artifacts caused by calcium. However, coronary stenosis with high calcium scores often requires evaluation using CCTA. Technological methods to overcome these limitations include the introduction of high-resolution CT scanners, the development of reconstruction techniques, and the subtraction technique. Methods to improve reading ability, such as the setting of appropriate window width and height, and evaluation of the position of calcified plaque and residual visibility of the lumen in cross-sectional images, are also recommended.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.603-612
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• 2021

The effect of Advanced Modeled Iterative Reconstruction (ADMIRE) on the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score of computed tomography was evaluated. Coronary artery calcium images (348 calcium, 6 groups, total of 2088 calcium) were acquired by 128-slice dual-source CT of 89 patients.Volume score and Agatston score were measured from images reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) and ADMIRE (1-5). The difference between FBP and ADMIRE Strength (1-5) was confirmed through the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the post-hoc analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test based on FBP. Both volume score and Agatston score showed statistically significant differences between FBP and ADMIRE (1-5) (P=0.015, P=0.0.38). As a result of post hoc analysis, the volume score decreased to 9.5% in ADMIRE 4 (Z=-2.359, P=0.018) and 13.2% in ADMIRE 5 (Z=-3.113, P=0.002) based on FBP. Agatston score decreased to 10.4% in ADMIRE 4 (Z=-2.051, P=0.040) and 14.0% in ADMIRE 5 (Z=-2.718, P=0.007) based on FBP. High ADMIRE strength affected the volume score and Agatston score due to the decrease in calcium area. In addition, the change in the Density factor due to the decrease in Maximum HU may affect the calculation of the Agatston score.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.54-69
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• 2022

Early detection of potential asymptomatic coronary artery disease is very important, as patients with sudden cardiac death often do not show symptoms such as chest pain or motor dyspnea. Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) has long been unjustified as a screening tool for asymptomatic patients because of the risks posed by radiation exposure. However, there are still various opinions regarding the usefulness of CCTA for screening for coronary artery disease (CAD) in asymptomatic healthy individuals or patients. This review investigated the usefulness of coronary artery calcium score and CCTA as screening tests for CAD in asymptomatic healthy individuals or patients through various literature reviews. With the development of CT technology, recent studies have been conducted in asymptomatic CAD patients with a reduced radiation dose of less than 1 mSv. A total of 2.6% of asymptomatic subjects on CCTA found significant CAD over 70%, and it was concluded that screening CCTA for CAD showed prognostic power in predicting the future occurrence of CAD in asymptomatic people. However, after the completion of the current NIH SCOT-HEART 2 study, it may be possible to determine whether CCTA is appropriate as a screening tool for CAD in asymptomatic healthy individuals.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2014

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between coronary artery calcification and risk factors of cardiovascular disease with multidetector computed tomography. Methods: Data were collected from 5,899 males between 30 and 59 years old by interview, survey, physical examination, blood test, and multidetector computed tomography in the university hospital from January 2010 to December 2011. We confirmed the coronary artery calcium scores of subjects by multidetector computed tomography and identified risk factors of cardiovascular disorders. We investigated the relationship between coronary artery calcification and risk factors of cardiovascular disorders. Results: Mean calcium score of the coronary arteries in 5,899 participants was 8.20, and 773 participants (13.1%) exhibited coronary artery calcification. The presence of coronary artery calcification was correlated to risk factors of cardiovascular disease (age, blood pressure, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, glucose, Apolipoprotein A-1, Apolipoprotein B, body mass index, waist circumference) and risk assessment tools of cardiovascular disorders. Significant predicted factors of coronary artery calcification had different patterns in each age group (30-39, 40-49, 50-59 years old). Conclusions: We confirmed the relationship between coronary artery calcification and either typical risk factors of cardiovascular disease or risk assessment tools of cardiovascular disease. In addition, we also observed that the pattern of these factors varied according to age. Therefore, age-related variation needs to be considered in management strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease.