Publications by authors named "Alistair J Moss"
Background: Aortic atherosclerosis represents an important contributor to ischemic stroke risk. Identifying patients with high-risk aortic atheroma could improve preventative treatment strategies for future ischemic stroke.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether thoracic F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography (PET) could improve the identification of patients at the highest risk of ischemic stroke.
Article Synopsis
- Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, but the exact reasons for this connection are not fully understood.
- The study aimed to determine if high levels of Lp(a) lead to worse plaque progression in patients with advanced coronary artery disease.
- Results showed that patients with high Lp(a) levels had significantly more progression of low-attenuation plaques (indicative of necrotic core) compared to those with low levels, suggesting that Lp(a) may play a role in accelerating this particular type of plaque growth.
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a pathophysiologically distinct cause of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). It is increasingly recognized that optimal management is different from that for atherosclerotic ACS and that a SCAD diagnosis has specific long-term prognostic and therapeutic implications. Accurate diagnosis is therefore essential to ensure the best treatment of patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Standard methods for quantifying positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in the aorta are time consuming and may not reflect overall vessel activity. We describe aortic microcalcification activity (AMA), a novel method for quantifying F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) uptake in the thoracic aorta.
Methods: Twenty patients underwent two hybrid F-NaF PET and computed tomography (CT) scans of the thoracic aorta less than three weeks apart.
Background: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays permit use of lower thresholds for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, but whether this improves clinical outcomes is unknown. We aimed to determine whether the introduction of a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assay with a sex-specific 99th centile diagnostic threshold would reduce subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome.
Methods: In this stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised controlled trial across ten secondary or tertiary care hospitals in Scotland, we evaluated the implementation of an hs-cTnI assay in consecutive patients who had been admitted to the hospitals' emergency departments with suspected acute coronary syndrome.