The value of coronary CT angiography in diagnosing ischemic stenosis / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To assess the value of coronary CT angiography(CCTA) based vessel characteristics and plaque features in diagnosing ischemic stenosis.Methods:From April 2014 to June 2021, 129 patients (including a total of 158 coronary arteries) who underwent CCTA, then completed invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as well as fractional flow reserve(FFR) within 30 days were retrospectively enrolled. All coronary arteries were divided into ischemic group (FFR≤0.80, n=77) and non-ischemic group (FFR>0.80, n=81). Vascular characteristics, high-risk plaque features, quantitative parameters and the morphology of plaque were obtained from CCTA images. Independent samples t-test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and χ 2 test were used to compare afore-mentioned variables between the ischemic group and the non-ischemic group. The logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk predictors for ischemic stenosis. Results:Compared with non-ischemic group, the stenosis degree of coronary arteries in ischemic group was more serious(72.09%±8.55% vs. 63.52%±13.49%; t=4.765, P<0.001). The proportion of left anterior descending artery(LAD) lesions in ischemic group was higher than that of non-ischemic group [88.31%(68/77)vs. 55.56%(45/81); χ 2=20.793, P<0.001]. In terms of CCTA plaque characteristics, the ischemic group demonstrated longer plaque length, smaller minimum lumen area, larger plaque burden, increased percent plaque diffuseness, and diffuse lesions were more common. As for morphological characteristics of plaque, the proportions of plaques with rectangle shape, proximal longitudinal eccentric shape and distal longitudinal eccentric shape were higher than those of non-ischemic group, whereas cosine eccentric plaques were more common in the non-ischemic group( P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the stenosis severity(OR =1.09, 95 %CI 1.04-1.14, P<0.001), LAD involvement(OR =4.23,95 %CI 1.01-17.72, P=0.049), diffuse lesion(OR =6.71,95 %CI 1.43-31.52, P=0.016), proximal longitudinal eccentric shape (OR =3.77,95 %CI 1.27-11.16, P=0.017), and distal longitudinal eccentric shape (OR =3.91,95 %CI 1.19-12.85, P=0.025) were the independent influence factors for ischemic stenosis. Conclusion:The CCTA-based stenosis degree of coronary artery, LAD involvement, diffuse lesion, proximal longitudinal eccentric shape, distal longitudinal eccentric shape were important influence factors for ischemic stenosis.