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CT coronary angiography: impact of adapted statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) on coronary stenosis and plaque composition analysis

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Abstract

To assess the impact of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) on coronary plaque volume and composition analysis as well as on stenosis quantification in high definition coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We included 50 plaques in 29 consecutive patients who were referred for the assessment of known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) with contrast-enhanced CCTA on a 64-slice high definition CT scanner (Discovery HD 750, GE Healthcare). CCTA scans were reconstructed with standard filtered back projection (FBP) with no ASIR (0 %) or with increasing contributions of ASIR, i.e. 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 % (no FBP). Plaque analysis (volume, components and stenosis degree) was performed using a previously validated automated software. Mean values for minimal diameter and minimal area as well as degree of stenosis did not change significantly using different ASIR reconstructions. There was virtually no impact of reconstruction algorithms on mean plaque volume or plaque composition (e.g. soft, intermediate and calcified component). However, with increasing ASIR contribution, the percentage of plaque volume component between 401 and 500 HU decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Modern image reconstruction algorithms such as ASIR, which has been developed for noise reduction in latest high resolution CCTA scans, can be used reliably without interfering with the plaque analysis and stenosis severity assessment.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to PAK (Grant No. 320030-127604/1) and to MF (Grant No. 323630-128868/1). Furthermore, we thank our Cardiac Radiographer Ennio Mueller for his excellent technical support.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Cardiac Imaging, University Hospital Zurich, Ramistrasse 100, NUK C 42, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland

    Tobias A. Fuchs, Michael Fiechter, Cathérine Gebhard, Julia Stehli, Jelena R. Ghadri, Egle Kazakauskaite, Bernhard A. Herzog, Lars Husmann, Oliver Gaemperli & Philipp A. Kaufmann

  2. Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Michael Fiechter & Philipp A. Kaufmann

Authors
  1. Tobias A. Fuchs
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  2. Michael Fiechter
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  3. Cathérine Gebhard
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  4. Julia Stehli
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  5. Jelena R. Ghadri
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  6. Egle Kazakauskaite
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  7. Bernhard A. Herzog
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  8. Lars Husmann
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  9. Oliver Gaemperli
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  10. Philipp A. Kaufmann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philipp A. Kaufmann.

Additional information

Tobias A. Fuchs and Michael Fiechter have contributed equally to this work.

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Fuchs, T.A., Fiechter, M., Gebhard, C. et al. CT coronary angiography: impact of adapted statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) on coronary stenosis and plaque composition analysis. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 29, 719–724 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-012-0134-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-012-0134-1

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