Relation of Coronary Artery Diameters With Cardiorespiratory Fitness.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality when adjusted for traditional risk factors. Mechanisms by which fitness reduces risk have been studied but remain incompletely understood. We hypothesize that higher fitness is associated with larger coronary artery diameters independent of its effect on traditional risk factors.

Low 25-OH vitamin D levels are not associated with coronary artery calcium or obstructive stenoses.

Background: It is unclear whether low vitamin D is a significant risk factor for the presence of either calcific atherosclerosis or obstructive coronary artery stenoses.

Design: In this study, we measured the 25-OH vitamin D levels of 1131 consecutive individuals who underwent coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring and coronary computed tomographic angiography at our institution.

Participants And Methods: We looked for any association of 25-OH vitamin D levels with CAC scores.

Utility of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein versus coronary artery calcium for the detection of obstructive stenoses in stable patients.

The inflammatory biomarker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) has emerged as a predictor of future cardiovascular events. Screening for coronary artery calcium (CAC) is an alternative method for stratifying subjects by their cardiovascular risk. It is unclear, however, how hs-CRP compares with CAC scoring for the detection of obstructive coronary artery stenoses.

Computed tomography detection of carotid calcium and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis.

Computed tomography (CT) detection of coronary calcium has become a popular technique for assessing coronary atherosclerosis. Whether CT detection of carotid calcium could similarly assess carotid atherosclerosis is unknown. We thus performed a study evaluating the feasibility of carotid calcium scoring by CT.

Effect of increasing body mass index on image quality and positive predictive value of 100-kV coronary computed tomographic angiography.

Lowering the voltage to 100 kV is an effective method of reducing the radiation of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA). It is unknown, however, whether one could use a 100-kV CTA protocol with overweight or obese patients. We, thus, evaluated the effect of increasing body mass index (BMI) on various image quality parameters of 100-kV CTA.

Relation of a coronary artery calcium score higher than 400 to coronary stenoses detected using multidetector computed tomography and to traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is an excellent surrogate for atherosclerosis. However, this calcium is nonspecific for obstructive heart disease. This study sought to determine (1) the frequency of significant computed tomographic (CT) angiographic stenoses as a function of CAC scores, and (2) whether high CAC scores were associated with these stenoses independent of traditional risk factors.

Effectiveness of cognitive therapy for depression in a community mental health center: a benchmarking study.

The current study examined the feasibility and effectiveness of transporting an empirically supported treatment for depression, cognitive therapy (CT), to a community mental health center setting. CT was delivered to 192 adult outpatients with major depression, and a benchmarking strategy compared results with those of 2 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The 3 samples were largely similar in terms of initial severity of depression, and CT was as effective in reducing depressive symptoms in the current sample as in the RCTs.