Spectral CT works for analyzing plaque composition

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Can spectral CT determine the type of coronary plaque and even its vulnerability to rupture? It can, according to researchers in China.

A group from the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in Suzhou was looking for new ways to evaluate coronary plaque characteristics and decided to try spectral CT. Conventional CT is already adept at characterizing plaque morphology, location, and degree of luminal stenosis.

The researchers examined the coronary artery plaques of more than 100 patients at coronary CT angiography using a spectral imaging-capable 64-detector-row scanner, dividing them based on conventional CT characterizations such as Hounsfield units and calcification volumes. They probed plaque vulnerability by serum biomarkers; two biomarkers were found to correlate with atherosclerosis, and the presence of one was likely evidence of plaque vulnerability, Dr. Li Yonggang reported.

The scanner offers a variety of quantitative analysis methods, but its multiparameter imaging mode, in particular, "took the CT diagnosis from morphology into the functional area, and provided a reliable basis for early detection and accurate diagnosis of disease," Yonggang told AuntMinnie.com.