"Calcium score"

We aimed to examine the relationship between abdominal computed tomography (CT)-based body composition data and both renal function decline and all-cause mortality in patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD). This retrospective study comprised non-dialysis CKD patients who underwent consecutive unenhanced abdominal CT between January 2010 and December 2011. CT-based body composition was measured using semiautomated method that included visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, skeletal muscle area and density, and abdominal aortic calcium score (AAS)...

PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility and safety of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) for enabling transfemoral abdominal (EVAR), thoracic (TEVAR), and thoracoabdominal (BEVAR) endovascular aneurysm repair in patients with narrow and calcified iliac arteries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients treated with IVL for severe calcified and narrowed iliac access before EVAR, TEVAR, or BEVAR between November 2020 and June 2022 were retrospectively evaluated. All anatomical iliac characteristics were acquired by multi-planar reconstruction of preoperative computed tomography angiography (CTA)...

BACKGROUND Secondary hyperparathyroidism and coronary calcifications are common complications in chronic kidney disease. However, the relation between coronary calcium score (CCS) and persistent hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) after kidney transplantation (KT) remains unknown. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a single-center retrospective study of KT candidates from January 2017 to May 2020. We collected patients' demographics, cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, and the findings of pre-KT CV imaging. We also collected parathyroid hormone (PTH) values before KT, at 1-6 months, 6-12 months, and 12-24 months after KT...

In this review, the authors summarize the role of coronary computed tomography angiography and coronary artery calcium scoring in different clinical presentations of chest pain and preventative care and discuss future directions and new technologies such as pericoronary fat inflammation and the growing footprint of artificial intelligence in cardiovascular medicine.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Background  The best option among the endovascular options in long, complex femoropopliteal (FP) lesions, and factors affecting the patency have yet to be well described. There are few studies describing the mid- and long-term patency of endovascular stents in long-segment FP occlusions. Aim  This study aimed to determine the technical success and mid-term patency of subintimal angioplasty with vasculomimetic stenting in Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II (TASC) C and D FP disease. The patient and imaging factors that affect primary patency were also analyzed...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and worldwide, with a high associated economic burden. This study aimed to assess whether artificial intelligence models incorporating clinical, stress test, and imaging parameters could predict hospitalization for acute HF exacerbation in patients undergoing SPECT/CT myocardial perfusion imaging. Methods: The HF risk prediction model was developed using data from 4,766 patients who underwent SPECT/CT at a single center (internal cohort)...

The 2019 ACC/AHA guidelines regarding low-dose aspirin in primary prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) indicate increased risk of bleeding without a net benefit. Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) score could be used to guide aspirin therapy in high-risk individuals without increased risk of bleeding. With this systematic review, we aim to analyse studies that have investigated the role of CAC in primary prevention with aspirin. Four relevant studies were identified and the primary outcomes of interest were bleeding events and major adverse cardiac events...

In this single-center cross-sectional study on patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), we assessed the prognostic significance of metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and CCTA-derived parameters for predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Over a mean follow-up of 26.9 months, 2038 patients were analyzed, with 361 (17.7%) experiencing MACE. MASLD was associated with a higher MACE incidence (25.90% vs. 14.71% without MASLD, p < 0...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: A new nomenclature, Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD), has been proposed by consensus with sub-classifications and requires evidence-based validation. We assessed whether the presence and severity of SLD, as well as its sub-classifications, are associated with the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. METHODS: This longitudinal cohort study included 13,811 adults who participated in repeated regular health screening examinations between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2021 that included assessments of their coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores...

Background Coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) for coronary artery disease requires true noncontrast (TNC) CT alongside contrast-enhanced coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Photon-counting CT provides an algorithm (PureCalcium) for reconstructing virtual noncontrast images from CCTA specifically for CACS. Purpose To assess CACS differences based on PureCalcium images derived from contrast-enhanced photon-counting CCTA compared with TNC images and evaluate the impact of these differences on the clinically relevant classification of patients into plaque burden groups...

PURPOSE: Firstly, to validate automatically and visually scored coronary artery calcium (CAC) on low dose CT (LDCT) scans with a dedicated calcium scoring CT (CSCT) scan. Secondly, to assess the added value of CAC scored from LDCT scans acquired during [15O]-water-PET myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) on prediction of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). METHODS: 572 consecutive patients with suspected coronary artery disease, who underwent [15O]-water-PET MPI with LDCT and a dedicated CSCT scan were included...

OBJECTIVE: Long-standing diabetes mellitus is often associated with cardiovascular complications. We aimed to evaluate the presence, extent and composition of subclinical atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries by Computed Tomography in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (NDT2DM), and to identify the predictors. METHODS: In this study 101 consecutive patients with NDT2DM were included. Patients were categorized into five groups based on their Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CACS) ranging from 0, 0-10, 11-100, 101-400 to >400...

BACKGROUND: The presence of the severe thoracic aortic calcification (TAC) in cardiac surgery patients is associated with adverse post-operative outcome. However, the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and aortic plaque burden remains unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the predictive factors of TAC in patients candidate for cardiac surgery. METHODS: Patients who underwent thoracic CT scan prior to cardiac surgery between August 2020 to April 2021 were included...

AIM: We studied the effects of overhydration (OH), Kt/Vurea and β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) on coronary artery calcification and mortality in patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD). METHODS: The Agatston coronary artery calcium score (CACS), postdialysis body composition using bioimpedance analysis, single-pool Kt/Vurea and predialysis β2-MG at baseline were assessed and followed up for 3 years in patients undergoing HD. We performed logistic regression analyses for a CACS ≥400 and Cox proportional hazard analyses for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality...

BACKGROUND: Early treatment of cardiovascular risk factors and characterization of coronary plaques is essential to collect prognostic information about coronary artery disease (CAD) and prevent cardiovascular events. OBJECTIVES: Discussion of the most important risk factors of CAD, basic diagnostic of CAD, prevention, and prognostic factors of CAD with focus on cardiac computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prevalence and prognostic impact of CAD risk factors; description of specific assessment of risk profiles; estimation of pretest probability; conventional prevention of CAD; prognostic assessment of CAD using the Calcium Scoring and coronary CT angiography...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a clinic characteristic of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Coronary calcium score (CCS) is a highly used imaging modality to evidence atherosclerotic plaque burden. microRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that epigenetically regulate gene expression. Here, we investigated whether CCS associates with a specific miRNA-signature in FH-patients. METHODS: Patients with genetic diagnosis of FH (N = 86) from the nationwide SAFEHEART-cohort were investigated by computed tomography angiography imaging and classified depending on the presence of coronary calcification in FH-CCS (+) and FH-CCS (-) groups by the Agatston score...

AIM: The effects of iron on vascular calcification in rats and vascular smooth muscle cells were recently reported, but clinical studies on iron and vascular calcification are scant. We studied the associations of absolute iron deficiency, coronary artery calcification and mortality in patients with maintenance haemodialysis (MHD). METHODS: Transferrin saturation (TSAT), ferritin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and Agatston coronary artery calcium score (CACS) were studied at baseline in MHD patients and followed up for 3 years...

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients often presents diffuse lesions, with extensive calcification, and it is time-consuming to measure coronary artery calcium score (CACS). OBJECTIVES: To explore the predictive ability of deep learning (DL)-based CACS for obstructive CAD and hemodynamically significant CAD in T2DM. METHODS: 469 T2DM patients suspected of CAD who accepted CACS scan and coronary CT angiography between January 2013 and December 2020 were enrolled...