Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden
Multislice cardiac CT characterizes late stage macrocalcification in epicardial arteries as opposed to PET/CT, which mirrors early phase arterial wall changes in epicardial and transmural coronary arteries. With regard to tracer, there has been a shift from using mainly <sup>18</sup>F-fl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Diagnostics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/8/1421 |
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| author | Babak Saboury Lars Edenbrandt Reza Piri Oke Gerke Tom Werner Armin Arbab-Zadeh Abass Alavi Poul Flemming Høilund-Carlsen |
| author_facet | Babak Saboury Lars Edenbrandt Reza Piri Oke Gerke Tom Werner Armin Arbab-Zadeh Abass Alavi Poul Flemming Høilund-Carlsen |
| author_sort | Babak Saboury |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Multislice cardiac CT characterizes late stage macrocalcification in epicardial arteries as opposed to PET/CT, which mirrors early phase arterial wall changes in epicardial and transmural coronary arteries. With regard to tracer, there has been a shift from using mainly <sup>18</sup>F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), indicating inflammation, to applying predominantly <sup>18</sup>F-sodium fluoride (NaF) due to its high affinity for arterial wall microcalcification and more consistent association with cardiovascular risk factors. To make NaF-PET/CT an indispensable adjunct to clinical assessment of cardiac atherosclerosis, the Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS) has been proposed. It constitutes a global assessment of cardiac atherosclerosis burden in the individual patient, supported by an artificial intelligence (AI)-based approach for fast observer-independent segmentation. Common measures for characterizing epicardial coronary atherosclerosis by NaF-PET/CT as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) or target-to-background ratio are more versatile, error prone, and less reproducible than the ACCS, which equals the average cardiac SUV. The AI-based approach ensures a quick and easy delineation of the entire heart in 3D to obtain the ACCS expressing ongoing global cardiac atherosclerosis, even before it gives rise to CT-detectable coronary calcification. The quantification of global cardiac atherosclerotic burden by the ACCS is suited for management triage and monitoring of disease progression with and without intervention. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:54:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3c1386688ec405098a62d9eb03ae024 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4418 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:54:00Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diagnostics |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3c1386688ec405098a62d9eb03ae0242023-11-22T07:20:15ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182021-08-01118142110.3390/diagnostics11081421Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis BurdenBabak Saboury0Lars Edenbrandt1Reza Piri2Oke Gerke3Tom Werner4Armin Arbab-Zadeh5Abass Alavi6Poul Flemming Høilund-Carlsen7Clinical Center, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USADepartment of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 41345 Gothenburg, SwedenDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, DenmarkDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, DenmarkDepartment of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USADivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USADepartment of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USADepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, DenmarkMultislice cardiac CT characterizes late stage macrocalcification in epicardial arteries as opposed to PET/CT, which mirrors early phase arterial wall changes in epicardial and transmural coronary arteries. With regard to tracer, there has been a shift from using mainly <sup>18</sup>F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), indicating inflammation, to applying predominantly <sup>18</sup>F-sodium fluoride (NaF) due to its high affinity for arterial wall microcalcification and more consistent association with cardiovascular risk factors. To make NaF-PET/CT an indispensable adjunct to clinical assessment of cardiac atherosclerosis, the Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS) has been proposed. It constitutes a global assessment of cardiac atherosclerosis burden in the individual patient, supported by an artificial intelligence (AI)-based approach for fast observer-independent segmentation. Common measures for characterizing epicardial coronary atherosclerosis by NaF-PET/CT as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) or target-to-background ratio are more versatile, error prone, and less reproducible than the ACCS, which equals the average cardiac SUV. The AI-based approach ensures a quick and easy delineation of the entire heart in 3D to obtain the ACCS expressing ongoing global cardiac atherosclerosis, even before it gives rise to CT-detectable coronary calcification. The quantification of global cardiac atherosclerotic burden by the ACCS is suited for management triage and monitoring of disease progression with and without intervention.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/8/1421aortaartificial intelligenceatherosclerosiscalciumheartimaging |
| spellingShingle | Babak Saboury Lars Edenbrandt Reza Piri Oke Gerke Tom Werner Armin Arbab-Zadeh Abass Alavi Poul Flemming Høilund-Carlsen Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden Diagnostics aorta artificial intelligence atherosclerosis calcium heart imaging |
| title | Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden |
| title_full | Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden |
| title_fullStr | Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden |
| title_short | Alavi–Carlsen Calcification Score (ACCS): A Simple Measure of Global Cardiac Atherosclerosis Burden |
| title_sort | alavi carlsen calcification score accs a simple measure of global cardiac atherosclerosis burden |
| topic | aorta artificial intelligence atherosclerosis calcium heart imaging |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/8/1421 |
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