Background: Previous reports suggest that plaque may be characterized by the computed tomography (CT) number, but there is not a comprehensive method for evaluating the gray-scale CT image of the coronary artery obtained by multi-detector row CT (MDCT).
Methods and results: Forty-five patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) underwent MDCT either 3-4 weeks after the onset of acute myocardial infarction (n=24) or within 1 week after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with unstable angina (UA; n=21). The cross-sections obtained at intervals of 5 mm were converted to numerical data and a 'plaque map' was drawn using the color-based isometric line method and bird's eye view. 'Plaque map' was compared with the findings of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and angioscopy. Of 662 slices of 78 vessels, soft, intermediate or calcified plaque was detected in 144, 134, and 84 slices, respectively. Compared with IVUS, the sensitivities were 92%, 87%, and 89%, respectively, and compared with angioscopy, sensitivity was 80% and specificity was 87%.
Conclusions: MDCT with the 'Plaque Map' system can noninvasively characterize plaque in patients with ACS.