TY - JOUR
T1 - Distribution of calcification in carotid endarterectomy tissues
T2 - Comparison of micro-computed tomography imaging with histology
AU - Ababneh, Bashar
AU - Rejjal, Loui
AU - Pokharel, Yashashwi
AU - Nambi, Vijay
AU - Wang, Xukui
AU - Tung, Ching Hsuan
AU - Han, Richard I.
AU - Taylor, Addison A.
AU - Kougias, Panagiotis
AU - Lumsden, Alan B.
AU - Lawrie, Gerald
AU - Reardon, Michael
AU - Ballantyne, Christie M.
AU - Morrisett, Joel D.
AU - Brunner, Gerd
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIH grants R01 HL63090 (JDM), and T32 HL007812 (JDM), and by funding from the Division of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Dr. Nambi was supported by an NIH Career Development Award (K23 HL096893). Dr. Brunner was supported by an AHA Beginning Grant-in-Aid award (13BGIA16720014) and by the Caroline Wiess Law Fund for Molecular Medicine.
Funding Information:
Funding Sources American Heart Association, (Grant / Award Number: ‘13BGIA16720014’) National Institutes of Health, (Grant / Award Number: ‘K23 HL096893’,‘R01 HL63090’,‘T32 HL007812’).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2014.
PY - 2014/10/11
Y1 - 2014/10/11
N2 - Background: Calcification in atherosclerotic plaques has been viewed as a marker of plaque stability, but whether calcification accumulates in specific anatomic sites in the carotid artery is unknown. We determined the burden and distribution of calcified plaque in carotid endarterectomy (CEA) tissues.Methods: A total of 22 CEA tissues were imaged with high-resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Total plaque burden and total calcium score using the Agatston method were quantified. The Agatston score (AS) was also normalized for tissue size. Plaque and calcium distribution were analyzed separately for three CEA regions: common segment (CS), bulb segment (BS), and internal/external segments (IES).Results: The average CEA tissue length was 40.83 (interquartile range [IQR] 33.31-42.41) mm with total plaque burden of 103.45 (IQR: 78.84-156.81) mm3 and total AS of 38.58 (IQR 11.59-89.97). Total plaque volume was 21.02 (IQR: 14.47-25.42) mm3 in the CS, 37.89 (22.59-48.32) mm3 in the BS, and 54.05 (36.87-74.52) mm3 in the IES. Of the 22 tissues, 15 had no calcium in the CS compared with three in the bulb and two in the IES. Normalized calcified plaque was most prevalent in the BS, the IES and was least prevalent in the CS. The overall correlation of calcification between histology sections and matched micro-CT images was 0.86 (p<0.001).Conclusions: Calcified plaque is heterogeneously distributed in CEA tissues with most in the bulb and IES regions. The amount of calcification in micro-CT slices shows a high correlation with matched histology sections.
AB - Background: Calcification in atherosclerotic plaques has been viewed as a marker of plaque stability, but whether calcification accumulates in specific anatomic sites in the carotid artery is unknown. We determined the burden and distribution of calcified plaque in carotid endarterectomy (CEA) tissues.Methods: A total of 22 CEA tissues were imaged with high-resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Total plaque burden and total calcium score using the Agatston method were quantified. The Agatston score (AS) was also normalized for tissue size. Plaque and calcium distribution were analyzed separately for three CEA regions: common segment (CS), bulb segment (BS), and internal/external segments (IES).Results: The average CEA tissue length was 40.83 (interquartile range [IQR] 33.31-42.41) mm with total plaque burden of 103.45 (IQR: 78.84-156.81) mm3 and total AS of 38.58 (IQR 11.59-89.97). Total plaque volume was 21.02 (IQR: 14.47-25.42) mm3 in the CS, 37.89 (22.59-48.32) mm3 in the BS, and 54.05 (36.87-74.52) mm3 in the IES. Of the 22 tissues, 15 had no calcium in the CS compared with three in the bulb and two in the IES. Normalized calcified plaque was most prevalent in the BS, the IES and was least prevalent in the CS. The overall correlation of calcification between histology sections and matched micro-CT images was 0.86 (p<0.001).Conclusions: Calcified plaque is heterogeneously distributed in CEA tissues with most in the bulb and IES regions. The amount of calcification in micro-CT slices shows a high correlation with matched histology sections.
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U2 - 10.1177/1358863X14549270
DO - 10.1177/1358863X14549270
M3 - Article
C2 - 25193489
AN - SCOPUS:84910034316
SN - 1358-863X
VL - 19
SP - 343
EP - 350
JO - Vascular Medicine (United Kingdom)
JF - Vascular Medicine (United Kingdom)
IS - 5
ER -