Advances in CT Techniques in Vascular Calcification

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2021 Sep 29:8:716822. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.716822. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Vascular calcification, a common pathological phenomenon in atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases, increases the incidence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the prevention and detection of vascular calcification play an important role. At present, various techniques have been applied to the analysis of vascular calcification, but clinical examination mainly depends on non-invasive and invasive imaging methods to detect and quantify. Computed tomography (CT), as a commonly used clinical examination method, can analyze vascular calcification. In recent years, with the development of technology, in addition to traditional CT, some emerging types of CT, such as dual-energy CT and micro CT, have emerged for vascular imaging and providing anatomical information for calcification. This review focuses on the latest application of various CT techniques in vascular calcification.

Keywords: calcification score; dual energy CT; micro CT; multi-slice spiral CT; vascular calcification.

Publication types

  • Review