published online 26 December 2011.
Article Outline
Downloads of manuscripts from the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (JCCT) have gone viral. Elsevier reports that downloads of JCCT articles have increased 500% in 2011. In 2010, there were 2491 downloads of JCCT manuscripts from ScienceDirect. In 2011, data through the first 10 months of the year showed that the number of downloads had increased to 12,694! This represents a tremendous growth in the scientific reach of the Journal, accounted for by the quality of manuscripts published, their importance (including guidelines, original research, and critical reviews), and the incorporation of JCCT within Elsevier institutional online collections. Send your best work to JCCT; it will get noticed!
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In this issue: Volume 6, Issue 1
•Infarct detection with cardiac CT remains a hot topic. In this issue, Ghoshhajra and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital report a study of 48 patients with intermediate-to-high probability for coronary artery disease (CAD) after single-photon emission CT myocardial perfusion imaging (SPECT-MPI0, a combination approach, including includes regional wall motion assessments, resting perfusion defects, and detection of delayed enhancement, had the highest accuracy for detection of myocardial infarction (85%). Extension of these data to other scan protocols that could provide imaging at lower radiation dosing (such as high-pitch helical CT) will be of interest.
•Cardiac CT has shown to be a remarkably accurate, “gold standard” method for the assessment of ventricular volumes and function. The clinical utility of this information is at its highest in the setting of CAD and ischemia, such as can be detected with CT perfusion (CTP) techniques. In this issue, Uthamalingam and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital compare the assessment of ejection fraction, ventricular volumes, and regional wall motion characteristics between stress-gated SPECT-MPI and stress CTP. The correlations for these measures were all high, suggesting the ability of stress CTP studies to provide all the necessary data (anatomy, perfusion, and function) for key treatment decisions in ischemic heart disease.
•Cystatin C provides an alternative to serum creatinine or estimated glomerular filtration rate for the evaluation of renal function, and it is independent of muscle mass, age, or sex. An increase in cystatin C of ≥10% for 24 hours may predict contrast-induced nephropathy and worse outcomes in patients with renal dysfunction. In this issue of the Journal, Ando and colleagues from the Department of Cardiology, Kami-iida Dai-ichi General Hospital, report that a majority (74%) of patients with normal baseline renal function showed an increase in cystatin C at 1 day after procedure, among whom only 16% recovered by 1 week. The percentage of cystatin C change was inversely correlated with oral fluid volume (r = −0.80, P < 0.0001). Even among stable outpatients with satisfactory renal parameters, attention should be paid to hydration before and after cardiac CT angiography.
•Calcium scoring with the area-density method derives from noncontrast cardiac CT, although methods to perform these measurements in contrast-enhanced scans could enable quantitative atherosclerosis assessments from a single CT angiographic acquisition. In this issue of the Journal, Otton and colleagues from St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, report the development and validation of a new and apparently highly accurate method to quantify calcium scores from contrast-enhanced CT angiograms with the use of an attenuation threshold of 320. More studies using different acquisition protocols and software approaches will be of interest.
○The Journal also features 2 unique reviews:
▪A comprehensive evaluation of the diagnostic and clinical implications of myocardial bridging on cardiac CT.
▪A wonderful and comprehensive pictorial essay of coronary arterial anomalies that represents a collaboration of many contributors led by Dr. Monvadi B. Srichai of NYU School of Medicine.
On behalf of the Editorial Staff, happy reading and welcome to Volume 6, Issue 1! If your institution does not hold a subscription to JCCT either alone or through one of Elsevier’s collections, we would welcome the endorsement and support! Keep those downloads coming!
