CHICAGO, Nov. 27—A prospective study conducted by Zohar Keidar, MD, andcolleagues in the department of nuclear medicine at Rambam Health CareCampus and Faculty of Medicine, Technion, in Haifa, Israel,demonstrated that myocardial perfusion imaging may play an importantrole in determining the need for revascularization in patients withextensive vascular calcifications.

Siemens Medical Solutions has expanded its Somatom Definitiondual-source CT system with the addition of the AS model, which will beoffered in 40-, 64-, and 128-slice configurations.

Contrast-enhanced echocardiography (echo) imaging was well-toleratedand has similar diagnostic performance compared to nuclear perfusion inchest pain patients being evaluated for inducible ischemia.

Multidetector CT (MDCT) detected that the ratio of noncalcifiedcoronary artery plaque (NCAP) to calcified coronary atheroscleroticplaque (CAP) is not constant but changes with age, and onlyhyperlipoproteinaemia (HLP) was independently associated with theextent of NCAP, according to a poster presentation at the AmericanHeart Association scientific sessions held this week in Orlando, Fla.

Graft patency can be assessed before discharge with 64-multidetector CT(64-MDCT) in 80.8 percent of cases, and when MDCT is performed theability to visualize grafts and assess patency is 98 percent, accordingto a poster presentation at the American Heart Association scientificsessions held this week in Orlando, Fla.

With a single rotation, the effective dose for combined CT perfusion(CTP) and CT angiography (CTA) imaging can be reduced to nearlyone-third of the dose, or approximately 7-11 mSv, measured with theprototype 256-slice CT scanner, according to a poster presentation atthe American Heart Association conference held this week in Orlando,Fla.

The CT characteristics of the lesions responsible for subsequent acutecoronary syndrome (ACS) include larger plaque volume as well as largersoft plaque area and volume, according to a poster presentation at theAmerican Heart Association conference held this week in Orlando, Fla.

A real-time hybrid CT and angiography image registration can be used tominimize foreshortening and vessel masking to determine stent size andlocation and provide a reference of vessel path and structure in casesof chronic total occlusion (CTO), according to a poster presentation atthe American Heart Association conference held this week in Orlando,Fla.