Evaluation of CTCA in Assessing Plaque Pathology and Physiology

Computed tomographic coronary angiography (CTCA) has been recently introduced to non-invasively evaluate coronary artery pathology. Histology and intravascular ultrasound imaging studies have demonstrated that CTCA enables identification of plaque characteristics associated with increased vulnerability (i.e., plaque burden and composition) and allows assessment of vessel physiology (i.e., local haemodynamic forces), and reports have shown that CTCA can predict atherosclerotic evolution and detect lesions that will progress and cause cardiovascular events. Despite the wealth of data provided, CTCA has still a limited role in the study of atherosclerosis. Prior to unlocking the full potential of CTCA and enable its broad use, further work is needed to develop user-friendly processing tools that will allow fast and accurate analysis of CTCA, and examine in detail the accuracy of modern CTCA imaging in assessing plaque pathology. In this application, the investigators aim 1) to develop a CTCA analysis system that will enable fast segmentation, reliable coronary reconstruction and blood flow simulation in a user-friendly environment and 2) validate the efficacy of state-of-the-art CTCA for assessment of coronary plaque morphology and physiology against intravascular plaque imaging using hybrid near infrared spectroscopy-intravascular ultrasound.