Application of Coronary Artery Computed Tomography Angiography in the Qualitative Diagnosis of Calcified Lesions in Elderly Patients with Coronary Heart Disease
Abstract：Objective To investigate the value of coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the qualitative diagnosis of calcified plaques in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and its predictive value for major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Methods A total of 500 CHD patients who underwent CTA examination at the Department of Radiology, Suzhou Xiangcheng People's Hospital from January 2019 to January 2022 were retrospectively selected. According to the nature of the plaque, they were divided into stable group (n=282) and vulnerable group (n=218). The calcification, lipid, and fibrous volume of the plaques in all subjects were measured, and their corresponding percentages were calculated. Independent risk factors for vulnerable plaques and MACE were determined, and the diagnostic and predictive values were evaluated. Results The calcification volume, fibrous volume, and calcification percentage in the vulnerable group were significantly lower than those in the stable group, while the lipid volume, lipid percentage, and fibrous percentage were significantly higher (P < 0.01). Lipid percentage was an independent risk factor for vulnerable plaques in CHD patients, while calcification percentage and fibrous percentage were protective factors (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for plaque stability diagnosis by calcification percentage, lipid percentage, and fibrous percentage were 0.739, 0.796, and 0.764, respectively. The AUC for predicting MACE in CHD patients by calcification percentage, lipid percentage, fibrous percentage, and coronary artery stenosis degree were 0.839, 0.781, 0.833, and 0.856, respectively (P < 0.01). Conclusion The CTA parameters of plaque calcification percentage, lipid percentage, and fibrous percentage have good value in determining the nature of coronary plaques and predicting MACE.
Keywords：plaqueatherosclerosiscoronary heart diseasevascular calcificationtomographyspiral computed tomography
Publication Date：2025-09-15
Online Publishing Date：2025-09-29(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 1269-1272 )