RA is a debulking device that physically removes plaque and reduces plaque rigidity basically altering vessel compliance, similar to that achieved by a dental drill. It works on the principle of “differential cutting”, ablating only the calcified and fibrotic “non-compliant” tissue, while retaining the elastic arterial wall. The hard and calcified plaque is not able to deflect the rota-burr and...

RA is a debulking device that physically removes plaque and reduces plaque rigidity basically altering vessel compliance, similar to that achieved by a dental drill. It works on the principle of “differential cutting”, ablating only the calcified and fibrotic “non-compliant” tissue, while retaining the elastic arterial wall. The hard and calcified plaque is not able to deflect the rota-burr and...

BACKGROUND It is generally well-known that smoking has a substantial impact on general health, and cardiovascular health in particular. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of different smoking status on the burden and characteristics of coronary artery plaques in Chinese men. METHODS Our study enrolled 1920 individuals with suspected coronary artery disease undergoing 256-det...

RA is a debulking device that physically removes plaque and reduces plaque rigidity basically altering vessel compliance, similar to that achieved by a dental drill. It works on the principle of “differential cutting”, ablating only the calcified and fibrotic “non-compliant” tissue, while retaining the elastic arterial wall. The hard and calcified plaque is not able to deflect the rota-burr and...

BACKGROUND Imaging of coronary plaques has traditionally focused on evaluating degree of stenosis, as the risk for adverse cardiac events increases with stenosis severity. However, the relation between plaque composition and severity of stenosis remains largely unknown. OBJECTIVE To assess plaque composition (non-invasively by multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography and invasively b...

Abstract Objective To explore whether machine learning (ML) radiomic analysis of low-dose, high-resolution, non-contrast, ECG gated cardiac CT scan allows identification non-calcified coronary plaque characteristics. Background Novel imaging and techniques may provide the ability to detect or high risk plaques on a non-contrast scan, advancing cardiovascular diagnostics. Methods We prospectivel...

BACKGROUND Characteristics of individual calcified plaques, especially calcium concentration (CC), may provide incremental value to global calcium scores in the assessment of plaque burden and risk of coronary events and evaluation of therapeutic intervention. In this study, therefore, we assessed the characteristics of individual calcified plaques and their relationship to other parameters der...

Albuminuria and reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) associate with two apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) variants in nondiabetic African Americans (AAs). Whether APOL1 associates with subclinical atherosclerosis and survival remains unclear. To determine this, 717 African American-Diabetes Heart Study participants underwent computed tomography to determine coronary artery-, carotid...

Whether quantitative, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional plaque measurements by intravascular ultrasound with radiofrequency backscatter (IVUS/VH) are different between intermediate lesions with or without major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is unknown. IVUS/VH-derived parameters were compared in 60 patients with an intermediate coronary lesion (40-70 %) between lesions that did or d...

BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic plaque stability is related to histological composition. However, current diagnostic tools do not allow adequate in vivo identification and characterization of plaques. Spectral analysis of backscattered intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) data has potential for real-time in vivo plaque classification. METHODS AND RESULTS Eighty-eight plaques from 51 left anterior desce...