Tiffany Dong, Elio Haroun, Aro Daniela Arockiam, Rishabh Khurana, Joseph El Dahdah, Ankit Agrawal, Yuichiro Okushi, David Moros, Kashyap Bodi, Ushasi Saraswati, Mohammad Alamer, Abdelrahman Abushouk, Agam Bansal, Serge Harb, Zoran Popovic, Leonardo Rodriguez, Rishi Puri, Grant Reed, Amar Krishnaswamy, Brian Griffin, Samir Kapadia, Tom Kai Ming Wang
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Aortic valve calcium score (AVCa) measured on noncontrast computed tomography (CT) is well-established for grading aortic stenosis (AS) severity. However, thresholds for AVCa measured on contrast CT remain uncertain. We evaluated correlations, associated factors, and severity thresholds of AVCa measured on contrast CT against transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) measures of AS.
Methods: Patients with native AS undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement evaluation from 2019 to 2020 who underwent TTE and contrast-enhanced CT were retrospectively studied (n=1035, age 79±9 years, 429 (41.5%) women, 906 (87.5%) severe and 129 (12.5%) moderate AS by TTE). AVCa was measured using the modified Agatston method with the minimum threshold of 4 SD above the mean ascending aorta blood pool Hounsfield units. Receiver-operating characteristics analysis and Youden index were used to define sex-specific optimal AVCa thresholds for identifying severe AS defined by TTE (aortic valve area by continuity equation ≤1.0 cm2) in the derivation cohort and assessed when applied to the validation cohort.
Results: Mean aortic valve area on TTE was 0.79±0.21 cm2, while mean AVCa score, volume, and mass were 2152±1102 modified AU, 1853±1592 mm3, and 673±485 mg, respectively. Multivariable linear regression identified women to be associated with lower AVCa (β-coefficient, -358), while chronic kidney disease was associated with a higher AVCa (β-coefficient, 171). Optimal severe AS thresholds of ≥1840 modified AU for men and ≥1430 modified AU for women were determined, with area under curve (95% CIs) and sensitivities/specificities of 0.809 (0.749-0.869, 71.3%, 82.2%) for men and 0.822 (0.751-0.892), 73.4%/78.9% for women in the derivation cohort, and 0.830 (0.786-0.875), 75.9%/87.5% for men and 0.780 (0.670-0.890), 77.5%/71.4% for women in the validation cohort.
Conclusions: AVCa by contrast CT is a useful tool for identifying severe AS by TTE, with sex-specific thresholds for severe AS identified. Further studies are necessary to externally validate our findings and evaluate their prognostic significance.
期刊介绍:
Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, an American Heart Association journal, publishes high-quality, patient-centric articles focusing on observational studies, clinical trials, and advances in applied (translational) research. The journal features innovative, multimodality approaches to the diagnosis and risk stratification of cardiovascular disease. Modalities covered include echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy, magnetic resonance angiography, cardiac positron emission tomography, noninvasive assessment of vascular and endothelial function, radionuclide imaging, molecular imaging, and others.
Article types considered by Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging include Original Research, Research Letters, Advances in Cardiovascular Imaging, Clinical Implications of Molecular Imaging Research, How to Use Imaging, Translating Novel Imaging Technologies into Clinical Applications, and Cardiovascular Images.