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Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
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Published Online
on June 9, 2005

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2005
Published online before print June 9, 2005, doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000173311.39867.65
A more recent version of this article appeared on August 1, 2005
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*Substance via MeSH
Medline Plus Health Information
*Carotid Artery Disease
*CT Scans
*Minerals
*MRI Scans

Submitted on January 24, 2005
Accepted on May 25, 2005

Mineral Volume and Morphology in Carotid Plaque Specimens Using High-Resolution MRI and CT

Ronald L. Wolf *; Suzanne L. Wehrli ; Andra M. Popescu ; John H. Woo ; Hee Kwon Song ; Alexander C. Wright ; Emile R. Mohler III ; John D. Harding ; Eric L. Zager ; Ronald M. Fairman ; Michael A. Golden ; Omaida C. Velazquez ; Jeffrey P. Carpenter ; and Felix W. Wehrli

From the Departments of Radiology (R.L.W., A.M.P., J.H.W., H.K.S., A.C.W., F.W.W.), Cardiology (E.R.M., J.D.H.), Neurosurgery (E.L.Z.), and Vascular Surgery (R.M.F., M.A.G., O.C.V., J.P.C.), University of Pennsylvania Medical System, Philadelphia; and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (S.L.W.), Pennsylvania.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Ronald.Wolf{at}uphs.upenn.edu.

Objective--High-resolution MRI methods have been used to evaluate carotid artery atherosclerotic plaque content. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of high-resolution MRI in evaluation of the quantity and pattern of mineral deposition in carotid endarterectomy (CEA) specimens, with quantitative micro-CT as the gold standard.

Methods and Results--High-resolution MRI and CT were compared in 20 CEA specimens. Linear regression comparing mineral volumes generated from CT (VCT) and MRI (VMRI) data demonstrated good correlation using simple thresholding (VMRI=-0.01+0.98 VCT; R2=0.90; threshold=4xnoise) and k-means clustering methods (VMRI=-0.005+1.38 VCT; R2=0.93). Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC [mineral mass]) were calculated for CT data and BMC verified with ash weight. Patterns of mineralization like particles, granules, and sheets were more clearly depicted on CT.

Conclusions--Mineral volumes generated from MRI or CT data were highly correlated. CT provided a more detailed depiction of mineralization patterns and provided BMD and BMC in addition to mineral volume. The extent of mineralization as well as the morphology may ultimately be useful in assessing plaque stability.
Key words: magnetic resonance imaging • computed tomography • carotid arteries • calcium






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