Global interest in air pollution and in research studies has been present for decades.1–3 It is acknowledged as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide1–5 8.1 million or 11.9 % of deaths are attributed to air pollution which ranks second to high systolic blood pressure in 2021.1,4,5 Air pollution ranks highest in contributing to global disease burden among risk factors and attributing a total of 236.0 million (8.2 %) total disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs).1,4,5
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Low endothelial shear stress is associated with increased coronary atherosclerotic plaque activity in patients that presented with acute coronary syndrome
Both coronary atherosclerotic plaque activity and low endothelial shear stress (ESS) are predictive of adverse cardiovascular events. We aimed to investigate their association and relationship with high-risk plaque features.
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Rationale and design of the CT-STEMI study (Cardiac Computed Tomography for comprehensive risk stratification of arrhythmic, atherothrombotic and heart failure events following reperfused ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction)
ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, with survivors facing high risk of heart failure, recurrent ischemia, and arrhythmias. Risk stratification traditionally relies on echocardiography, while cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the most effective tool for predicting adverse outcomes. However, its routine use is limited by accessibility, cost, and logistical constraints. Recently, cardiac computed tomography (CCT) has evolved from an…
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Key Advances in Cardiac Computed Tomography: A Review of the Most Relevant Studies Published in 2024 on Coronary and Structural Heart Disease
Table of Contents Summary (ToC Summary)This review summarizes the most impactful studies published in 2024 on cardiac computed tomography (CT) for coronary and structural heart disease. Key advances include the integration of AI for plaque and ischemia assessment, photon-counting CT, CT-derived FFR, and extracellular volume quantification. The review highlights clinical applications in aortic, mitral, tricuspid valve disease, and myocardial evaluation, reinforcing the role of CT as a cornerstone…
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Cardiac computed tomography imaging biomarkers for prediction of new-onset heart failure: Multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis
Heart failure (HF) is associated with a large socioeconomic burden. The growth of cardiac computed tomography (CT) has allowed for investigation of new applications in predicting risk of cardiovascular disease.
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Quantitative feasibility of aortic-valve agatston score derived from 5 mm-thick non-electrocardiography-gated noncontrast body computed tomography for evaluating severe aortic stenosis
The aortic-valve Agatston score (AVAS) is valuable for evaluating severe aortic stenosis (AS). While visual assessment of AS using chest computed tomography (CT) during lung cancer screening facilitates qualitative evaluation, it remains unclear whether AVAS derived from body CT that are neither electrocardiography (ECG)-triggered nor ECG-gated can quantitatively evaluate severe AS. This study aims to investigate the quantitative feasibility of AVAS derived from the 5 mm-thick noncontrast body …
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Association of lower noninvasive fractional flow reserve values with high risk anatomic characteristics in pediatric patients with anomalous coronary arteries
Although there are data on fractional flow reserve CT (CT-FFR) assessment for anomalous aortic origin of coronary artery (AAOCA) in adults, reports in children are limited.
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Performance of large language models for CAD-RADS 2.0 classification derived from cardiac CT reports
This study evaluates the performance of seven large language models (LLMs) in generating CAD-RADS 2.0 scores from cardiac CT reports, including all modifiers. The models, comprising both cloud-based and locally hosted solutions, were assessed for their ability to handle the complexity of CAD-RADS 2.0 classification, which includes plaque burden, high-risk plaque features, and ischemia. GPT-4o and Llama 3 70B demonstrated high accuracy (93 % and 92.5 %, respectively), while open-source models a…
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Comparison of dual-energy iodine and standard subtraction methods for myocardial extracellular volume quantification using cardiac computed tomography
Computed tomography (CT)-derived extracellular volume fraction (ECV) quantifies myocardial fibrosis noninvasively, comparable to cardiovascular magnetic resonance. The conventional subtraction method (ECV-conv) requires dedicated pre- and post-contrast acquisitions, while the dual-energy spectral method (ECV-spec) uses only the post-contrast phase. We aimed to compare these methods in patients undergoing CT planning for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
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Letter to the editor re: Racial bias in CCT article
We read with interest the article by Chow, Benjamin J.W. et al. “Racial referral bias in cardiac computed tomography: Differences, disparities or discrimination?”.1 In this study, the majority of the patients (82.5 %) referred for CCT were White, with a higher referral index for Whites compared to other ethnicities (1.2 vs. 0.6, p < 0.001).