TY  - JOUR
A1  - Eckert, Joachim Philipp
A1  - Schmidt, Marco
A1  - Magedanz, Annett
A1  - Voigtländer, Thomas
A1  - Schmermund, Axel
T1  - Coronary CT angiography in managing atherosclerosis
T2  - International journal of molecular sciences
N2  - Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) was the only method to image coronary arteries for a long time and is still the gold-standard. Technology of noninvasive imaging by coronary computed-tomography angiography (CCTA) has experienced remarkable progress during the last two decades. It is possible to visualize atherosclerotic lesions in the vessel wall in contrast to "lumenography" performed by ICA. Coronary artery disease can be ruled out by CCTA with excellent accuracy. The degree of stenoses is, however, often overestimated which impairs specificity. Atherosclerotic lesions can be characterized as calcified, non-calcified and partially calcified. Calcified plaques are usually quantified using the Agatston-Score. Higher scores are correlated with worse cardiovascular outcome and increased risk of cardiac events. For non-calcified or partially calcified plaques different angiographic findings like positive remodelling, a large necrotic core or spotty calcification more frequently lead to myocardial infarctions. CCTA is an important tool with increasing clinical value for ruling out coronary artery disease or relevant stenoses as well as for advanced risk stratification.
KW  - atherosclerosis
KW  - coronary plaques
KW  - coronary computed-tomography angiography (CCTA)
KW  - coronary calcium
KW  - cardiac events
Y1  - 2015
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/54718
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-547186
SN  - 1422-0067
SN  - 1661-6596
VL  - 16
IS  - 2
SP  - 3740
EP  - 3756
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -