Papillary Muscle Infarction by Cardiac MRI in Patients With Mitral Regurgitation.

Background: Papillary muscle (PM) infarction (PMI) detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is associated with poor outcomes. Whether PM parameters provide more value for mitral regurgitation (MR) management currently remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the prognostic value of PMI using CMR in patients with MR.

Coronary artery segmentation in CCTA images based on multi-scale feature learning.

Background: Coronary artery segmentation is a prerequisite in computer-aided diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). However, segmentation of coronary arteries in Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) images faces several challenges. The current segmentation approaches are unable to effectively address these challenges and existing problems such as the need for manual interaction or low segmentation accuracy.

Predicting major adverse cardiovascular events within 3 years by optimization of radiomics model derived from pericoronary adipose tissue on coronary computed tomography angiography: a case-control study.

Background: Coronary inflammation induces changes in pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) can be detected by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Our aim was to investigate whether different PCAT radiomics model based on CCTA could improve the prediction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within 3 years.

Methods: This retrospective study included 141 consecutive patients with MACE and matched to patients with non-MACE (n = 141).

New insight in massive cerebral infarction predictions after anterior circulation occlusion.

To predict massive cerebral infarction (MCI) occurrence after anterior circulation occlusion (ACO) by cASPECTS-CTA-CS (combined ASPECTS and CTA-CS). Of 185 cerebral infarction patients with the ACO, their collateral circulation scores from CT angiography (CTA) images in two groups (MCI and non-MCI) were evaluated using Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) and CT angiography collateral score (CTA-CS) approaches. The cASPECTS-CTA-CS was validated internally using the bootstrap sampling method with 1000 bootstrap repetitions and compared to CTA-CS.

COACT: Coronary artery centerline tracker.

Background: The curved planar reformation (CPR) technique is one of the most commonly used methods in clinical practice to locate coronary arteries in medical images.

Purpose: The artery centerline is the cornerstone for the generation of the CPR image. Here, we describe the development of a new fully automatic artery centerline tracker with the aim of increasing the efficiency and accuracy of the process.

The risk and outcome of malignant brain edema in post-mechanical thrombectomy: acute ischemic stroke by anterior circulation occlusion.

Background And Purpose: Malignant brain edema (MBE) occurring after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) could lead to severe disability and mortality. We aimed to investigate the incidence, predictors, and clinical outcomes of MBE in patients with AIS after MT.

Methods: The clinical and imaging data of 155 patients with AIS of anterior circulation after MT were studied.

Relationship between quantitative epicardial adipose tissue based on coronary computed tomography angiography and coronary slow flow.

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between quantitative epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) based on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and coronary slow flow (CSF).

Methods: A total of 85 patients with < 40% coronary stenosis on diagnostic coronary angiography were included in this retrospective study between January 2020 and December 2021. A semi-automatic method was developed for EAT quantification on CCTA images.

The association of intracranial atherosclerosis with cerebral small vessel disease imaging markers: a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging study.

To evaluate the association of intracranial non-stenotic atherosclerotic plaque with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) imaging markers in a CSVD population using 3.0 T high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI), which was validated in embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) cohort. We retrospectively recruited consecutive patients who were diagnosed with CSVD or ESUS from January 2015 to December 2019.

Coronary slow flow research: a bibliometric analysis.

Background: Studies on coronary slow flow are receiving increasing attention, but objective evaluations are still lacking. The purpose of this study was to visualize the current status and research hotspots of coronary slow flow through bibliometric analysis.

Methods: All relevant publications on coronary slow flow from 2003 to 2022 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database and analyzed by VOSviewer and CiteSpace visualization software.

Multi-constraint point set registration with redundant point removal for the registration of coronary arteries.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. The registration of the coronary artery at different phases can help radiologists explore the motion patterns of the coronary artery and assist in the diagnosis of CAD. However, there is no automatic and easy-to-execute method to solve the missing data problem that occurs at the endpoints of the coronary artery tree.

Automatic coronary artery segmentation of CCTA images using UNet with a local contextual transformer.

Coronary artery segmentation is an essential procedure in the computer-aided diagnosis of coronary artery disease. It aims to identify and segment the regions of interest in the coronary circulation for further processing and diagnosis. Currently, automatic segmentation of coronary arteries is often unreliable because of their small size and poor distribution of contrast medium, as well as the problems that lead to over-segmentation or omission.

Low (0-5) Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score on admission predictive of worse functional outcome after mechanical thrombectomy for anterior circulation large vessel occlusion.

Background And Purpose: We examined functional outcomes of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) procedures following anterior circulation large vessel occlusion (ACLVO)-related acute ischemic strokes (AIS). Results were based on admission non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) studies, using the Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) as standard metric.

Methods: Qualifying subjects were consecutive patients (N = 343) at a single center undergoing MT for ACLVO-related AIS.

Noncontrast cardiac computed tomography-derived mitral annular calcification scores in mitral valve disease.

Background And Aims: Mitral annular calcification (MAC) by computed tomography (CT) is reported as an independent predictor of poor outcomes. However, it currently remains unclear if quantitative MAC parameters provide more value for mitral valve disease (MVD) management, therefore, we examined the prognostic value of MAC scores using noncontrast cardiac-CT in MVD patients.

Methods: Between January 2020 and December 2021, we prospectively enrolled 300 consecutive patients with MVD (MAC-present = 80 and MAC-absent = 220) undergoing preoperative cardiac-CT and mitral valve (MV) surgery.

A Comparative Study of Clinical and Aortic Morphological Characteristics between Bovine Aortic Arch and Normal Aortic Arch in Patients with Acute Type B Aortic Dissection.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to analyze the difference in clinical and aortic morphological features between the bovine aortic arch and normal aortic arch in patients with acute type B aortic dissection (aTBAD).

Methods: A total of 133 patients diagnosed with aTBAD were retrospectively collected. Based on aortic arch morphology, they were divided into the bovine aortic arch group (n = 20) and the normal aortic arch group (n = 113).

Radiomics Signatures of Carotid Plaque on Computed Tomography Angiography : An Approach to Identify Symptomatic Plaques.

Purpose: To develop and validate a combined model incorporating conventional clinical and imaging characteristics and radiomics signatures based on head and neck computed tomography angiography (CTA) to assess plaque vulnerability.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 167 patients with carotid atherosclerosis who underwent head and neck CTA and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 1 month. Clinical risk factors and conventional plaque characteristics were evaluated, and radiomic features were extracted from the carotid plaques.

The role of epicardial and pericoronary adipose tissue radiomics in identifying patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction from unstable angina.

Objectives: This study aimed to ascertain if the radiomics features of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) based on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) could identify non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) from unstable angina (UA).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective case-control study included 108 patients with NSTEMI and 108 controls with UA. All patients were separated into training cohort (n = 116), internal validation cohort 1 (n = 50), and internal validation cohort 2 (n = 50) based on the time order of admission.

Characteristics of intracranial plaque in patients with non-cardioembolic stroke and intracranial large vessel occlusion.

Objective: To determine the characteristics of intracranial plaque proximal to large vessel occlusion (LVO) in stroke patients without major-risk cardioembolic source using 3.0 T high-resolution MRI (HR-MRI).

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled eligible patients from January 2015 to July 2021.

A U-Shaped Network Based on Multi-level Feature and Dual-Attention Coordination Mechanism for Coronary Artery Segmentation of CCTA Images.

Purpose: Computed tomography coronary angiography (CCTA) images provide optimal visualization of coronary arteries to aid in diagnosing coronary heart disease (CHD). With the deep convolutional neural network, this work aims to develop an intelligent and lightweight coronary artery segmentation algorithm that can be deployed in hospital systems to assist clinicians in quantitatively analyzing CHD.

Methods: With the multi-level feature fusion, we proposed Dual-Attention Coordination U-Net (DAC-UNet) that achieves automated coronary artery segmentation in 2D CCTA images.

Pulmonary arteries segmentation from CT images using PA-Net with attention module and contour loss.

Background: Pulmonary embolism is a kind of cardiovascular disease that threatens human life and health. Since pulmonary embolism exists in the pulmonary artery, improving the segmentation accuracy of pulmonary artery is the key to the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Traditional medical image segmentation methods have limited effectiveness in pulmonary artery segmentation.

Intracranial plaque with large lipid core is associated with embolic stroke of undetermined source.

Objective: To investigate an association between percentage lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) and an index ischemic stroke in an embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) cohort.

Methods: A total of 167 ESUS patients with 259 non-stenotic intracranial plaques including 155 ipsilateral and 104 contralateral to stroke were finally enrolled in the current analysis. The multi-dimensional parameters involving remodeling index (RI), plaque burden (PB), LRNC, discontinuity of plaque surface (DPS), intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), and vulnerable plaque defined as presence of complicated plaque were evaluated by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.

Vulnerable plaque of the petrous internal carotid artery in embolic stroke of undetermined source.

Background And Purpose: The association between nonstenotic plaque at the petrous internal carotid artery (ICA) and embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) remains unknown. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the presence of a larger build-up of petrous plaque is more prevalent in the ipsilateral versus the contralateral side among ESUS patients without plaque in the intracranial and proximal ICA.

Methods: From a total of 243 patients with ESUS and 160 patients with small-vessel disease (SVD) without proximal ICA plaque, we enrolled 88 ESUS and 103 SVD patients without ipsilateral nonstenotic intracranial and proximal ICA plaque in the present study.

Evaluation of left atrial reservoir function and sphericity index in patients with mitral valve disease: a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study.

To assess the performance of biplane area-length method in measuring left atrial (LA) volume and sphericity index and to investigate the correlation of LA reservoir function and sphericity index with atrial fibrosis on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with mitral valve disease (MVD). Forty-eight patients with MVD undergoing cardiac MRI scan were enrolled in this retrospective study. LA reservoir function, measured as maximum volume (LAV), minimum volume (LAV) and ejection fraction (LAEF), and sphericity index were quantified using the biplane area-length method and standard short-axis approach, respectively.

Atherosclerosis as a Potential Cause of Deep Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source: A 3T High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Background The potential causes or sources of embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) vary. This study aimed to investigate the main cause of deep ESUS by evaluating nonstenotic intracranial atherosclerotic plaque. Methods and Results We retrospectively screened consecutive patients with unilateral anterior circulation ESUS.

Prediction model of early biomarkers of massive cerebral infarction caused by anterior circulation occlusion: Establishment and evaluation.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to establish and evaluate an early biomarker prediction model of massive cerebral infarction caused by anterior circulation occlusion.

Methods: One hundred thirty-four patients with acute cerebral infarction from January 2018 to October 2020 were selected to establish the development cohort for the internal test of the nomogram. Ninety-one patients with acute cerebral infarction hospitalized in our hospital from December 2020 to December 2021 were constituted the validation cohort for the external validation.