Of cardiovascular risk, is associated with composition of atherosclerotic plaque on

Of cardiovascular risk, is associated with composition of atherosclerotic plaque on CCTA images [11,12]. In the present study we sought to investigate the association of Pentagastrin plasma HMBG1 with coronary calcification and with noncalcified plaque composition in patients with suspected or known stable CAD. 1326631 The acquired results were compared to (i) clinical variables, (ii) hs-TnT, and (iii) high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of low-grade systemic inflammation.Materials and AVP site Methods Study PopulationThe study population consisted of 152 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo clinically indicated cardiac CTA for suspected or known CAD. Exclusion criteria were non-sinus rhythm, acute coronary syndromes, moderate or severe valvular disease, elevated serum creatinine (.1.5 mg/dl) and history or ECG signs of previous myocardial infarction. All patients underwent 2D-echocardiography before enrolment and patients with impaired systolic ejection fraction (,55 ) or presence of regional wall motion abnormalities were also excluded from analysis. Traditional risk factors for CAD, including arterial hypertension (blood pressure 140/90 mmHg or antihypertensive therapy), hyperlipidemia (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) 3.5 mmol/L or statin therapy), current or prior smoking, diabetes mellitus, and a family history of CAD were recorded at the time of the CT scans. The CTA protocol included the intravenous administration of incremental doses of 2.5 mg of metoprolol (range 2.5?5.0 mg), (LopresorH, Novartis, Pharma GmbH) starting 10?0 min before CTA in patients with heart rates 65beats/min. If the heart rate remained 65beats/min despite the administration of metoprolol, a retrospective scan was performed. If the heart rate decreased to ,65beats/min, prospective CTA scans were acquired. Furthermore, sublingual glyceryl nitrate was administrated before CTA for coronary vasodilatation in all patients. All procedures complied with the Declaration of Helsinki, were approved by our local ethic committee and all patients gave written informed consent.4? s with simultaneous ECG recording. The detector collimation was 2612860.625 mm, with 256 overlapping slices of 0.625 mm thickness and dynamic z-focal spot. The tube voltage was 120 kV and the gantry rotation time was 0.27s. A current of 800?050 mAs (depending on patient habitus) was used for retrospective and a current of 200 mAs for prospective acquisitions. With retrospective acquisitions reconstructions were routinely performed at 40 , 70 , 75 and 80 of the cardiac cycle. With prospective acquisitions reconstructions were available at 75 of the cardiac cycle. The effective dose was calculated for all CTA scans, based on the dose length product (DLP) and an organ weighting factor for the chest as the investigated anatomic region (k = 0.014 mSv6(mGy6cm)-1) averaged between male and female models[13].Assessment of Plaque Volume and CompositionCTA data sets were anonymized and were analyzed in random order using commercially available software (Philips Extended Brilliance Workspace 4.0). The composition of atherosclerotic plaques was performed using the Plaque SW version 4.0.2, as described previously [5]. Briefly, 18325633 for each coronary artery the vessel lumen and wall were automatically registered, and after the identification of each lesion the boundaries were manually edited if necessary. Subsequently, the identified plaques were marked, and the validity of the proposed lesion areas was eval.Of cardiovascular risk, is associated with composition of atherosclerotic plaque on CCTA images [11,12]. In the present study we sought to investigate the association of plasma HMBG1 with coronary calcification and with noncalcified plaque composition in patients with suspected or known stable CAD. 1326631 The acquired results were compared to (i) clinical variables, (ii) hs-TnT, and (iii) high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of low-grade systemic inflammation.Materials and Methods Study PopulationThe study population consisted of 152 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo clinically indicated cardiac CTA for suspected or known CAD. Exclusion criteria were non-sinus rhythm, acute coronary syndromes, moderate or severe valvular disease, elevated serum creatinine (.1.5 mg/dl) and history or ECG signs of previous myocardial infarction. All patients underwent 2D-echocardiography before enrolment and patients with impaired systolic ejection fraction (,55 ) or presence of regional wall motion abnormalities were also excluded from analysis. Traditional risk factors for CAD, including arterial hypertension (blood pressure 140/90 mmHg or antihypertensive therapy), hyperlipidemia (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) 3.5 mmol/L or statin therapy), current or prior smoking, diabetes mellitus, and a family history of CAD were recorded at the time of the CT scans. The CTA protocol included the intravenous administration of incremental doses of 2.5 mg of metoprolol (range 2.5?5.0 mg), (LopresorH, Novartis, Pharma GmbH) starting 10?0 min before CTA in patients with heart rates 65beats/min. If the heart rate remained 65beats/min despite the administration of metoprolol, a retrospective scan was performed. If the heart rate decreased to ,65beats/min, prospective CTA scans were acquired. Furthermore, sublingual glyceryl nitrate was administrated before CTA for coronary vasodilatation in all patients. All procedures complied with the Declaration of Helsinki, were approved by our local ethic committee and all patients gave written informed consent.4? s with simultaneous ECG recording. The detector collimation was 2612860.625 mm, with 256 overlapping slices of 0.625 mm thickness and dynamic z-focal spot. The tube voltage was 120 kV and the gantry rotation time was 0.27s. A current of 800?050 mAs (depending on patient habitus) was used for retrospective and a current of 200 mAs for prospective acquisitions. With retrospective acquisitions reconstructions were routinely performed at 40 , 70 , 75 and 80 of the cardiac cycle. With prospective acquisitions reconstructions were available at 75 of the cardiac cycle. The effective dose was calculated for all CTA scans, based on the dose length product (DLP) and an organ weighting factor for the chest as the investigated anatomic region (k = 0.014 mSv6(mGy6cm)-1) averaged between male and female models[13].Assessment of Plaque Volume and CompositionCTA data sets were anonymized and were analyzed in random order using commercially available software (Philips Extended Brilliance Workspace 4.0). The composition of atherosclerotic plaques was performed using the Plaque SW version 4.0.2, as described previously [5]. Briefly, 18325633 for each coronary artery the vessel lumen and wall were automatically registered, and after the identification of each lesion the boundaries were manually edited if necessary. Subsequently, the identified plaques were marked, and the validity of the proposed lesion areas was eval.