Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 2021 Jun 24;23(1):85. Epub 2021 Jun 24.

Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8TA, UK.

Background: Vascular calcification is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease. Computed tomography (CT) is the gold-standard for detecting vascular calcification. Radial volumetric-interpolated breath-hold examination (radial-VIBE), a free-breathing gradient-echo cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) sequence, has advantages over CT as it is ionising radiation-free. Read More

Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 2021 Jun 21. Epub 2021 Jun 21.

Department of Geriatric Cardiology & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Second Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28# Fuxing road, Haidian district, Beijing 100853, China.

Aims: More patients with suspected coronary artery disease underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) as gatekeeper. However, the prospective relation of plaque features to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) events has not been previously explored.

Methods And Results: One hundred and one out of 452 patients with documented ACS event and received more than once CCTA during the past 12 years were recruited. Read More

Eur Radiol 2021 Jun 17. Epub 2021 Jun 17.

Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 95 YongAn Road, Beijing, 100050, People's Republic of China.

Objective: To investigate the accuracy, diagnostic confidence, and interobserver agreement of subtraction coronary CT angiography (CCTA) versus invasive coronary angiography on 320-row CT in coronary segments with severe or non-severe calcification.

Materials/methods: Sixty-four patients (33 men, 66.6 ± 8. Read More

Kidney Med 2021 May-Jun;3(3):386-394.e1. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Department of Nephrology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam.

Rationale & Objective: The presence of calcified plaques in the coronary arteries is associated with cardiovascular mortality and is a hallmark of chronic kidney failure, but it is unclear whether this is associated with the same degree of coronary artery stenosis as in patients without kidney disease. We compared the relationship of coronary artery calcification (CAC) and stenosis between dialysis patients and patients without chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Study Design: Observational cohort study. Read More

NPJ Digit Med 2021 Jun 1;4(1):88. Epub 2021 Jun 1.

Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.

Coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common manifestation of cardiovascular disease, remains the most common cause of mortality in the United States. Risk assessment is key for primary prevention of coronary events and coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring using computed tomography (CT) is one such non-invasive tool. Despite the proven clinical value of CAC, the current clinical practice implementation for CAC has limitations such as the lack of insurance coverage for the test, need for capital-intensive CT machines, specialized imaging protocols, and accredited 3D imaging labs for analysis (including personnel and software). Read More

Am J Case Rep 2021 May 23;22:e930930. Epub 2021 May 23.

Department of Cardiology, Ascension Providence Hospital, Southfield, MI, USA.

BACKGROUND A ventricular septal aneurysm (VSA) is rare and almost always an incidental finding on cardiac imaging. It is rarely an isolated phenomenon and is more commonly associated with other forms of congenital heart disease such a ventricular septal defect (VSD). Differentiating a ventricular septal aneurysm from an aneurysm of the right sinus of Valsalva is crucial as the latter usually has a more aggressive course and may require surgical intervention. Read More

Nat Commun 2021 05 20;12(1):2963. Epub 2021 May 20.

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Imaging Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.

Cancer patients have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality than the general population. Low dose computed tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer screening offers an opportunity for simultaneous CVD risk estimation in at-risk patients. Our deep learning CVD risk prediction model, trained with 30,286 LDCTs from the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial, achieves an area under the curve (AUC) of 0. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2021 Jul 9;140:109769. Epub 2021 May 9.

Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 East Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310010, China. Electronic address:

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of radiomics features derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in the identification of ischemic coronary stenosis plaque using invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) as the reference standard.

Materials And Methods: 174 plaques of 149 patients (age: 62.21 ± 8. Read More

Heart 2021 May 13. Epub 2021 May 13.

MonashHEART, Monash Health and Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Epidemiological studies have observed East Asians (EAs) are significantly less likely to develop or die from coronary artery disease (CAD) compared with Caucasians. Conversely South Asians (SAs) develop CAD at higher rate and earlier age. Recently, a range of features derived from cardiac CT have been identified which may further characterise ethnic differences in CAD. Read More

Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 2021 May 12. Epub 2021 May 12.

Cardiology Division, Montefiore Medical Center, 111 E 210th, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA.

Recent epidemiological studies have demonstrated that common cardiovascular risk factors are strongly associated with adverse outcomes in COVID-19. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) and epicardial fat (EAT) have shown to outperform traditional risk factors in predicting cardiovascular events in the general population. We aim to determine if CAC and EAT determined by Computed Tomographic (CT) scanning can predict all-cause mortality in patients admitted with COVID-19 disease. Read More

Kyobu Geka 2021 Feb;74(2):130-133

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.

A 77-year-old man with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement(TAVR) via femoral artery for severe aortic stenosis(AS). Preoperative computed tomography(CT) showed there was mild calcification at the sino-tubular junction(STJ). Sapien 3 was implanted successfully, but at the end of full inflation, the balloon ruptured. Read More

Radiology 2021 Jul 11;300(1):79-86. Epub 2021 May 11.

From the Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (S.E.L.); Yonsei-Cedars-Sinai Integrative Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, South Korea (S.E.L., J.M.S., H.J.C.); Division of Cardiology, Severance Cardiovascular Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei University Health System, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea (J.M.S., S.S., H.J.C.); Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Milan, Italy (D.A., E.C., G.P.); Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Tex (M.H.A.); Department of Medicine, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, Calif (M.J.B.); Cardiovascular Imaging Unit, SDN IRCCS, Naples, Italy (F.C.); Department of Cardiology, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich (K.C.); Pusan University Hospital, Busan, South Korea (J.H.C.); Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea (E.J.C.); Department of Radiology, Casa de Saude São Jose, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (I.G.); Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, German Heart Center Munich, Munich, Germany (M.H.); Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Cardiovascular Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea (Y.J.K.); Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (B.K.L.); Department of Medicine and Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (J.A.L.); Department of Radiology, Area Vasta 1/ASUR Marche, Urbino, Italy (E.M.); UNICA, Unit of Cardiovascular Imaging, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal (H.M., P.d.A.G.); Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass (P.H.S.); Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga (H.S.); Department of Pathology, CVPath Institute, Gaithersburg, Md (R.V.); Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY (J.N.); Department of Imaging and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif (D.S.B.); Department of Radiology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY (L.J.S., F.Y.L., J.K.M.); Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands (J.J.B.).

Background Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is a key feature of aortic stenosis, and patients with aortic stenosis often have coronary -artery disease. Therefore, proving the association between the progression of AVC and coronary atherosclerosis could improve follow-up and treatment strategies. Purpose To explore the association between the progression of AVC and the progression of total and plaque volume composition from a large multicenter registry of serial coronary CT angiographic examinations. Read More

Radiol Cardiothorac Imaging 2021 Apr 15;3(2):e190219. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics (B.D.d.V., I.I.), Cardiovascular Institute (B.D.d.V., I.I.), and Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (I.I.), Amsterdam University Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Image Sciences Institute (B.D.d.V., N.L., I.I.) and Department of Radiology (P.A.d.J., I.I.), University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Purpose: To examine the prognostic value of location-specific arterial calcification quantities at lung screening low-dose CT for the prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 5564 participants who underwent low-dose CT from the National Lung Screening Trial between August 2002 and April 2004, who were followed until December 2009. A deep learning network was trained to quantify six types of vascular calcification: thoracic aorta calcification (TAC); aortic and mitral valve calcification; and coronary artery calcification (CAC) of the left main, the left anterior descending, and the right coronary artery. Read More

Int J Cardiol 2021 Jul 28;334:142-147. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Department of Radiology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, #86 Wujin Rd, Shanghai, China. Electronic address:

Background: Ischemia with non-obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) is not uncommon in clinical practice. However, the incidence and imaging characteristics of INOCA on dynamic CT myocardial perfusion imaging (CT-MPI) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and disease features of INOCA as evaluated by dynamic CT-MPI + coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Read More

Clin Investig Arterioscler 2021 Apr 24. Epub 2021 Apr 24.

Cardiology Department, Police Hospital Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.

Aim: To assess the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and severity of coronary artery disease using multislice CT coronary angiography.

Methods: 100 patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease during multislice CT coronary angiography were subjected to full evaluation of coronary artery disease severity followed by measurement of serum vitamin D level.

Results: The mean value of serum vitamin D level was 13. Read More

Lancet Digit Health 2021 05;3(5):e306-e316

Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.

Background: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score is a clinically validated marker of cardiovascular disease risk. We developed and validated a novel cardiovascular risk stratification system based on deep-learning-predicted CAC from retinal photographs.

Methods: We used 216 152 retinal photographs from five datasets from South Korea, Singapore, and the UK to train and validate the algorithms. Read More

ARYA Atheroscler 2020 Sep;16(5):258-260

Resident, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Iran.

Background: A textiloma is a rare retained surgical swab with probable serious post-operation complications.

Case Report: Here, we reported an asymptomatic patient who had past history of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) fourteen months ago and referred to our institute for left atrial mass removal. Echocardiography and chest computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a non-homogenous non-mobile mass and a heterogeneous lesion with low-density as well as high-density areas with spot calcification and gas bubbles at left atrium level, respectively. Read More

J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr 2021 Apr 3. Epub 2021 Apr 3.

Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Department of Cardiology, Erlangen, Germany. Electronic address:

Background: Increased attenuation of pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) around the right coronary artery (RCA) derived from coronary CTA might detect coronary inflammation. We investigated a potential association between RCA PCAT attenuation and serum levels of atherosclerosis-relevant cytokines and MACE (coronary revascularization, myocardial infarction and/or cardiac death).

Methods: Blood samples of 293 clinically stable individuals (59. Read More

JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada.

Objectives: This study sought to assess training volumes and its relationship to learning and identify potential new thresholds for determining expertise.

Background: Competency-based medical education (CBME) is being rapidly adopted and therefore training programs will need to adapt and identify new and novel methods of defining, measuring, and assessing clinical skills.

Methods: Consecutive cardiac computed tomography (CT) studies were interpreted independently by trainees and expert readers, and their interpretations (Agatston score, coronary artery disease severity, and Coronary Artery Disease Reporting and Data System) were collected. Read More

JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate whether coronary computed tomography angiography assessments of coronary plaque might explain differences in the prognosis of men and women presenting with chest pain.

Background: Important sex differences exist in coronary artery disease. Women presenting with chest pain have different risk factors, symptoms, prevalence of coronary artery disease and prognosis compared to men. Read More

Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, 420 Delaware Street SE, MMC 508, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.

The 2016 SCCT/STR guideline for coronary artery calcification (CAC) scoring on non-cardiac chest CT (NCCT) scans explicitly calls for the reporting of CAC. Whether the publication of the 2016 SCCT/STR guideline has had any impact on CAC reporting in lung cancer screening (LCS) scans has not been investigated. Consecutive patients with a LCS scan were identified from the University of Minnesota LCS registry and evaluated for CAC reporting in 3 separate cohorts: 6 months before, 6 months after, and 1 year after the publication of the 2016 SCCT/STR guideline. Read More

Quant Imaging Med Surg 2021 Apr;11(4):1504-1517

Central China Fuwai Hospital, Zhengzhou, China.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms on coronary artery calcium (CAC) score quantification using the reduced radiation dose (RRD) protocol in an anthropomorphic phantom and in patients.

Methods: A thorax phantom, containing 9 calcification inserts with varying hydroxyapatite (HA) densities, was scanned with the reference protocol [120 kv, 80 mAs, filtered back projection (FBP)] and RRD protocol (120 kV, 20-80 mAs, 5 mAs interval) using a 256-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner. Raw data were reconstructed with different reconstruction algorithms [iDose levels 1-7 and iterative model reconstruction (IMR) levels 1-3]. Read More

Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2021 05 14;31(5):1533-1541. Epub 2021 Feb 14.

Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland; Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland; Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Ireland. Electronic address:

Background And Aims: Atherosclerotic calcification is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular disease. This study aims to determine whether circulating levels of a local/systemic calcification inhibitor or a marker of bone formation correlate with measures of coronary or extracoronary calcification.

Methods And Results: Clinical computed tomography (CT) was performed on 64 arterial disease participants undergoing carotid and lower extremity endarterectomy. Read More

Medicina (Kaunas) 2021 Mar 9;57(3). Epub 2021 Mar 9.

Medical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 78/A Üllői Street, 1083 Budapest, Hungary.

Background And Objectives: Multivessel atherosclerosis and its genetic background are under-investigated, although atherosclerosis is seldom local and still causes high mortality. Alternative methods to assess coronary calcification (CAC) might incorporate genetic links between different arteries' atherosclerotic involvement, however, co-occurrences of coronary calcification have not been investigated in twins yet.

Materials And Methods: We assessed the heritability of radio morphologically distinct atherosclerotic plaque types in coronary (non-enhanced CT, Agatston score), carotid, and femoral arteries (B-mode ultrasound) in 190 twin subjects (60 monozygotic, 35 dizygotic pairs). Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2021 Mar 28;13(7). Epub 2021 Mar 28.

UCOG, Hôpital René Muret, APHP, 93270 Sevran, France.

Although organized, low-dose, computed-tomography (CT) scan lung-cancer screening has been shown to lower all-cause and lung-cancer-specific mortality, the primary cause of death for subjects eligible for such screening remains cardiovascular (CV) mortality. This meta-analysis study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of screening-scan-detected coronary artery calcifications (CACs) on CV and all-cause mortality. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting CV mortality according to the Agatson CAC score for participants in a lung-cancer screening program of randomized clinical or cohort studies. Read More

Front Med (Lausanne) 2021 16;8:606835. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Non-contrast computed tomography scans of the abdomen and pelvis (CTAP) are often obtained prior to renal transplant to evaluate the iliac arteries and help guide surgical implantation. The purpose of this study was to describe the association of iliac calcification scores with operative and clinical outcomes using a simplified scoring system. A retrospective review of 204 patients who underwent renal transplant from 1/2013 to 11/2014 and who had a CTAP within 3 years prior to transplant was performed. Read More

JRSM Cardiovasc Dis 2021 Jan-Dec;10:2048004020980945. Epub 2021 Mar 15.

Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK.

Background: Smoking and dyslipidaemia are known individual risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). The present study examined the combined risk of smoking and dyslipidaemia on coronary atherosclerosis.

Methods: Coronary artery calcium (CAC), measured by cardiac CT, was used to assess the extent of CAD, which was related to smoking and dyslipidaemia using logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, BMI and family history of ischaemic heart disease. Read More

Int J Cardiol 2021 06 26;332:8-14. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address:

Background: We explored the association of epicardial fat volume (EFV) with coronary plaque characteristics, coronary artery calcification (CAC) score, coronary stenosis, lesion-specific ischemia in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: 88 controls and 221 patients were analyzed in the study. High-risk plaque was defined as existing≥2 features, including positive remodeling, low attenuation, napkin-ring sign and spotty calcification. Read More

Rofo 2021 Mar 26. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Centre for Cardiovascular Science, The University of Edinburgh Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Background:  The capabilities of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) have advanced significantly in the past decade. Its capacity to detect stenotic coronary arteries safely and consistently has led to a marked decline in invasive diagnostic angiography. However, CCTA can do much more than identify coronary artery stenoses. Read More

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2021 05 25;53(9):1030-1037. Epub 2021 Mar 25.

NAFLD Research Center, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.

Background: Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a reliable non-invasive alternative to liver biopsy for assessing liver fibrosis. There are limited data regarding an association between liver fibrosis by MRE and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Aim: To investigate the association of high-risk CVD phenotype determined by coronary artery calcification (CAC) with liver fibrosis by MRE in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Read More