For the first time, researchers have used high-resolution microCT to identify microcalcific components of coronary artery vulnerable plaques.
For the first time, researchers have used high-resolution microCT to identify microcalcific components of coronary artery vulnerable plaques.
Dr. P. Cherukuri and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston examined specimens of left anterior descending coronary arteries obtained at autopsy from individuals with coronary artery disease. They presented their findings in a poster at the 2004 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference last fall.
Fibrocalcific plaques were shown to be homogeneous in composition, with a dense focus of calcification. Lipid-rich plaques, however, were variably heterogeneous with ordered distributions of microcalcifications predominantly located deep and lateral to the lipid core.