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The prognostic performance of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) for predicting adverse outcomes in patients with decreased renal function remains unclear. We aimed to examine whether CACS improves risk stratification by demonstrating incremental value beyond a traditional risk score according to renal function status. 9,563 individuals without known coronary artery disease were enrolled. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) was ascertained using the modified Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula, and was categorized as: ≥90, 60 to 89, and <60. CACS was categorized as 0, 1 to 100, 101 to 400, and >400. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for major adverse cardiac events (MACE), comprising all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and late revascularization (>90 days). Mean age was 55.8 ± 11.5 years (52.8% male). In total, 261 (2.7%) patients experienced MACE over a median follow-up of 24.5 months (interquartile range: 16.9 to 41.1). Incident MACE increased with higher CACS across each eGFR category, with the highest rate observed among patients with CACS >400 and eGFR <60 (95.1 per 1,000 person-years). A CACS >400 increased MACE risk with HR 4.46 (95% CI 1.68 to 11.85), 6.63 (95% CI 4.03 to 10.92), and 6.14 (95% CI 2.85 to 13.21) for eGFR ≥90, 60 to 89, and <60, respectively, as compared with CACS 0. Further, CACS improved discrimination and reclassification beyond Framingham 10-year risk score (FRS) (AUC: 0.70 vs 0.64; category free-NRI: 0.51, all p <0.001) for predicting MACE in patients with impaired renal function (eGFR < 90). In conclusion, CACS improved risk stratification and provided incremental value beyond FRS for predicting MACE, irrespective of eGFR status., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background and Aims: Recent advancements in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) have allowed for the quantitative measurement of high-risk lipid rich plaque. Determination of the optimal threshold for Hounsfield units (HU) by CCTA for identifying lipid rich plaque remains unknown. We aimed to validate reliable cut-points of HU for quantitative assessment of lipid rich plaque., Methods: 8 post-mortem sudden coronary death hearts were evaluated with CCTA and histologic analysis. Quantitative plaque analysis was performed in histopathology images and lipid rich plaque area was defined as intra-plaque necrotic core area. CCTA images were analyzed for quantitative plaque measurement. Low attenuation plaque (LAP) was defined as any pixel < 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 HU cut-offs within a coronary plaque. The area of LAP was calculated in each cross-section., Results: Among 105 cross-sections, 37 (35.2%) cross-sectional histology images contained lipid rich plaque. Although the highest specificity for identifying lipid rich plaque was shown with <30 HU cut-off (88.2%), sensitivity (e.g. 55.6% for <75 HU, 16.2% for <30 HU) and negative predictive value (e.g. 75.9% for <75 HU, 65.9% for <30 HU) tended to increase with higher HU cut-offs. For quantitative measurement, <75 HU showed the highest correlation coefficient (0.292, p = 0.003) and no significant differences were observed between lipid rich plaque area and LAP area between histology and CT analysis (Histology: 0.34 ± 0.73 mm 2 , QCT: 0.37 ± 0.71 mm 2 , p = 0.701)., Conclusions: LAP area by CCTA using a <75 HU cut-off value demonstrated high sensitivity and quantitative agreement with lipid rich plaque area by histology analysis., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Our objective was to assess the prognostic value of symptom typicality in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), determined by coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA). We identified 4215 patients without prior history of CAD and without obstructive CAD (<50% CCTA stenosis). CAD severity was categorized as nonobstructive (1%-49%) and none (0%). Based upon the Diamond-Forrester criteria for angina pectoris, symptom typicality was classified as asymptomatic, nonanginal, atypical, and typical. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), comprising all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and late revascularization, according to symptom typicality. Mean patient age was 57.0 ±12.0 years (54.9% male). During a median follow-up of 5.3 years (interquartile range, 4.6-5.9 years), MACE were reported in 312 (7.4%) patients. Among patients with nonobstructive CAD, there was an association between symptom typicality and MACE (P for interaction = 0.05), driven by increased risk of MACE among those with typical angina and nonobstructive CAD (hazard ratio: 1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-2.48, P = 0.03). No consistent relationship was found between symptom typicality and MACE among patients without any CAD (hazard ratio: 0.73, 95% confidence interval: 0.34-1.57, P = 0.08). In the CONFIRM registry, patients who presented with concomitant typical angina and nonobstructive CAD had a higher rate of MACE than did asymptomatic patients with nonobstructive CAD. However, the presence of typical angina did not appear to portend worse prognosis in patients with no CAD., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: The current meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of hybrid cardiac imaging techniques compared with stand-alone coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) for assessment of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD)., Background: The usefulness of coronary CTA for detecting obstructive CAD remains suboptimal at present. Myocardial perfusion imaging encompasses positron emission tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance, which permit the identification of myocardial perfusion defects to detect significant CAD. A hybrid approach comprising myocardial perfusion imaging and coronary CTA may improve diagnostic performance for detecting obstructive CAD., Methods: PubMed and Web of Knowledge were searched for relevant publications between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2015. Studies using coronary CTA and hybrid imaging for diagnosis of obstructive CAD (a luminal diameter reduction of >50% or >70% by invasive coronary angiography) were included. In total, 12 articles comprising 951 patients and 1,973 vessels were identified, and a meta-analysis was performed to determine pooled sensitivity, specificity, and summary receiver-operating characteristic curves., Results: On a per-patient basis, the pooled sensitivity of hybrid imaging was comparable to that of coronary CTA (91% vs. 90%; p = 0.28). However, specificity was higher for hybrid imaging versus coronary CTA (93% vs. 66%; p < 0.001). On a per-vessel basis, sensitivity for hybrid imaging against coronary CTA was comparable (84% vs. 89%; p = 0.29). Notably, hybrid imaging yielded a specificity of 95% versus 83% for coronary CTA (p < 0.001). Summary receiver-operating characteristic curves displayed improved discrimination for hybrid imaging beyond coronary CTA alone, on a per-vessel basis (area under the curve: 0.97 vs. 0.93; p = 0.047), although not on a per-patient level (area under the curve: 0.97 vs. 0.93; p = 0.132)., Conclusions: Hybrid cardiac imaging demonstrated improved diagnostic specificity for detection of obstructive CAD compared with stand-alone coronary CTA, yet improvement in overall diagnostic performance was relatively limited., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)