A microcomputer based automated, quantitative coronary angiographic analysis system.

Rapid and accurate assessment of coronary artery stenotic severity is important in therapy and understanding of coronary artery disease. Since automated systems minimize prejudice and variations in analysis, we developed an automated, quantitative coronary analysis system utilizing an IBM PC-XT computer. Film images (35 mm) were cine-to-video converted and subsequently digitized by an IBM PC-XT computer. Given an approximate center line, the computer automatically detected edges, corrected for X-ray magnification, and calculated arterial dimensions. On objects of known dimensional sizes, the correlation coefficient between actual and calculated dimensions was 0.996 (p less than 0.01) with a standard error of estimate of 0.07 mm and +/- 3.0% reproducibility. For objects less than 1 mm in diameter, the standard error of estimate was 0.05 mm with +/- 4.1% reproducibility. However, with minimal contrast material (25%), the standard error of estimate increased to 0.20 mm with +/- 7.2% reproducibility. The results indicate that automated, quantitative coronary angiography can be achieved using an inexpensive IBM PC-XT based system, provided that the vessels are adequately opacified.

An analysis of alcoholics' perception of hostility before and after treatment.

Volunteer alcoholics being treated in a chemical dependency unit (CDU) were administered the Paired Hands Test-Adult to assess their perceptions of others before and after three weeks of treatment. This test assessed the perception of others along a friendliness-hostility dimension. Test data were compared to a non-alcoholic control group who were not receiving any form of therapeutic services. The main hypothesis tested was that alcoholics experience more hostility than non-alcoholics and project this hostility through perceptual defenses. A secondary hypothesis tested was that traditional short-term therapy reduces the alcoholic's perception of hostility. Neither hypothesis was supported.