256 slice iCT in assessment of correlation between normal ascending aortic elasticity and left ventricular function / 实用放射学杂志

Objective To investigate the correlation between normal ascending aortic elasticity and the left ventricular function by 256 slice iCT.Methods 105 subjects who underwent CTA and echocardiography inspection and diagnosed with normal coronary artery and without ascending aortic atherosclerosis were collected.Subjects were divided into three groups according to age and two groups according to gender respectively.Left ventricular function parameter values on CT were measured, including ESV,EDV,SV,EF,CO and MM.The aortic elasticity on CT and echocardiography was measured and calculated respectively on cross-sectional area at 15 mm above aortic valve.The relationship between ascending aortic elasticity and the left ventricular function was evaluated.Results Bland-Altman plot revealed that there was a good conformity between CT and echocardiography in measurement the value of ascending aortic elasticity(ICC=0.988,P<0.05).In different grougs of age,normal ascending aortic elasticity was positively correlated with EDV,ESV,SV,EF and negatively correlated with MM.There was no correlation with the CO.There was a negative relationship between aortic elasticity and age(r=-0.546,P<0.05)

How to Utilize Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography in the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) has high negative predictive power for detecting coronary artery disease. However CCTA is limited by moderate positive predictive power in the detection of myocardial ischemia. This is not unexpected because the diameter of a stenosis is a poor indicator of myocardial ischemia and discrepancy between the severity of stenosis and noninvasive tests is not uncommon. The value of stenosis for predicting future development of acute coronary syndrome represented by plaque rupture has been questioned. CCTA identifies the characteristics of high-risk plaque including positive remodeling, low density plaque and spotty or micro-calcification. Also, additional evaluation of myocardial ischemia using computational flow dynamics, and luminal attenuation gradient are expected to increase both diagnostic performance for hemodynamically significant stenosis and the predictive power for future cardiovascular risk. Technical advances in CCTA would enable evaluation of both coronary artery stenosis and myocardial ischemia simultaneously with high predictive performance, and would improve vastly the clinical value of CCTA.

Echocardiography and electrocardiography as means to evaluate potential performance in horses

Prediction of potential performance is one of the goals of exercise physiology investigations. When Selecting a horse for competition, one of the main objectives is to choose the one that predictably will reveal a competitive aptitude above the average. The horses used in this study underwent a two-dimensional echocardiography study and a conventional 3 leads electrocardiogram. The results show that heart score is not an appropriate index to evaluate the heart size in the horse. On the other hand, there are currently more suitable and accurate procedures such as echocardiography that allow performing a clear anatomical evaluation and accurate measurement in order to calculate LVMM and to predict performance.