Mulitmedia Library
Mortality impact of low CAC density predominantly occurs in early atherosclerosis: explainable ML in the CAC consortium
Original TOC summary: We used SHAP, an explainable machine learning (ML) technique, to determine the risk predictive value and age interaction of coronary artery calcium (CAC) characteristics among 63,215 asymptomatic patients in the CAC consortium. The addition of CAC density and number of calcified vessels to an ML model with clinical characteristics + CAC did not improve prediction for all-cause mortality (p = 0.23), but did improve for cardiovascular mortality (p = 0.03). Lower CAC density increased mortality, particularly very low CAC density ≤0.75, which occurred predominantly in CAC1-100. Explainable ML should be applied in clinical research for transparent predictive modeling.Comparison of coronary atherosclerotic plaque progression in East Asians and Caucasians by serial coronary computed tomographic angiography: A PARADIGM substudy
To investigate potential differences in plaque progression (PP) between in East Asians and Caucasians as well as to determine clinical predictors of PP in East Asians.Percent atheroma volume: Optimal variable to report whole-heart atherosclerotic plaque burden with coronary CTA, the PARADIGM study
Different methodologies to report whole-heart atherosclerotic plaque on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) have been utilized. We examined which of the three commonly used plaque burden definitions was least affected by differences in body surface area (BSA) and sex.A pooled-analysis of age and sex based coronary artery calcium scores percentiles
Age and sex based coronary artery calcium score (CAC) percentiles have been used to improve coronary artery disease (CAD) risk prediction. However, the main limitation of the CACs percentiles currently in use is that they are often based on single studies. We performed a pooled analysis of all available studies that reported on CAC percentiles, in order to develop more generalizable age and sex nomograms.Coronary atherosclerosis scoring with semiquantitative CCTA risk scores for prediction of major adverse cardiac events: Propensity score-based analysis of diabetic and non-diabetic patients
We aimed to compare semiquantitative coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) risk scores – which score presence, extent, composition, stenosis and/or location of coronary artery disease (CAD) – and their prognostic value between patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). Risk scores derived from general chest-pain populations are often challenging to apply in DM patients, because of numerous confounders.Power of zero stronger than “soft” plaque
The authors nicely demonstrate,1 in a mixed cohort of asymptomatic and symptomatic patients, that the prevalence of non-calcified plaque is not insignificant among those persons with calcium score of zero. Understanding the differences between the symptomatic and asymptomatic cohorts are most important and that wasn't well delineated in the manuscript. Prevalence of disease, significance of non-calcified plaque and pre-test probability are all important factors that vary based on symptomatology.A novel density-volume calcium score by non-contrast CT predicts coronary plaque burden on coronary CT angiography: Results from the MACS (Multicenter AIDS cohort study)
The purpose of this study is to determine if a new score calculated with coronary artery calcium (CAC) density and volume is associated with total coronary artery plaque burden and composition on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) compared to the Agatston score (AS).A cross-sectional survey of coronary plaque composition in individuals on non-statin lipid lowering drug therapies and undergoing coronary computed tomography angiography
Non-statin therapy (NST) is used as second-line treatment when statin monotherapy is inadequate or poorly tolerated.Rationale and design of the coronary artery calcium consortium: A multicenter cohort study
Although coronary artery calcium (CAC) has been investigated for over two decades, there is very limited data on the association of CAC with cause of death. The CAC Consortium is a large ongoing multi-center observational cohort of individuals who underwent non-contrast cardiac-gated CAC testing and systematic, prospective, long-term follow-up for mortality with ascertainment of cause of death.Evaluation of valvular disease by cardiac computed tomography assessment
Cardiac multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography is emerging as a technique to evaluate cardiac valve structure and function. MDCT can provide insights into cardiac valve anatomy and pathologic states, including comparable efficacy in valve area and regurgitant orifice area assessment compared with echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging. MDCT can also be useful when initial evaluation of valvular disease with echocardiography yields suboptimal images. MDCT provides concurrent visualization of coronary anatomy which may avoid the need for further invasive preoperative testing.
