Detecting of coronary dissection by coronary magnetic resonance.

A 75-year-old man, who had a history of coronary dissection after percutaneous coronary intervention in left anterior descending coronary artery, underwent coronary magnetic resonance. Magnetic resonance demonstrated coronary dissection in the distal portion of the left anterior descending artery. Both the true lumen with thick vessel wall and the false lumen with thin vessel wall were demonstrated in the cross-sectional images using T1-weighed black blood technique and T2-weighed black blood technique.

Evaluation of the cavotricuspid isthmus and right atrium by multidetector-row computed tomography in patients with common atrial flutter.

The sizes of the right atrium (RA), cavotricuspid isthmus, and Eustachian valve are predictors of success of radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial flutter (AFL). We examined the relationship between the sizes of cavotricuspid isthmus as measured by multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and fluoroscopy. We used eight-detector MDCT to measure the tricuspid isthmus of 23 patients prior to linear ablation for common AFL.

Detection of coronary plaque by computed tomography with a novel plaque analysis system, 'Plaque Map', and comparison with intravascular ultrasound and angioscopy.

Background: Previous reports suggest that plaque may be characterized by the computed tomography (CT) number, but there is not a comprehensive method for evaluating the gray-scale CT image of the coronary artery obtained by multi-detector row CT (MDCT).

Methods And Results: Forty-five patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) underwent MDCT either 3-4 weeks after the onset of acute myocardial infarction (n=24) or within 1 week after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with unstable angina (UA; n=21). The cross-sections obtained at intervals of 5 mm were converted to numerical data and a 'plaque map' was drawn using the color-based isometric line method and bird's eye view.