Assessment of atherosclerosis from angiographic images

Abdominal aortic calcification and exostoses at the hand and lumbar spine: the Framingham Study

Bony proliferation (exostoses) and vascular calcification are common in elderly men and women, but it is unclear whether they have a common etiology. Lateral lumbar and hand radiographs were obtained (1967-1970) in 777 men and 1,241 women (mean age 59, range 47-80 years) from the Framingham Heart Study. Each group of hand exostoses, specifically apiostoses (tufting), enthesophytes, and osteophytes, was graded on a scale of 0-3 (absent to severe) and summed across phalanges of digits 2-5. Anterior lumbar osteophytes were assessed in intervertebral spaces T12-L5 and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) at lumbar segments L1-L4. Information on age, sex, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol level, diabetes, and estrogen replacement therapy in women was obtained at the time of radiography and adjusted for in multivariate analyses. We used multivariable logistic regression models to assess the relationship between AAC (dependent variable) and exostoses for each sex. Multivariable adjusted logistic regression revealed a significant association between increased anterior lumbar osteophytes and prevalent AAC in men [odds ratio (OR) = 1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-1.3 per unit increase in osteophytes] and in women (OR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.1-1.4). There also was an inverse association between enthesophytes and AAC in women only (OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.73-0.92). Apiostoses were weakly associated with AAC in men only. Hand osteophytes were not associated with AAC. In conclusion, in this cross-sectional study, anterior lumbar osteophytes and AAC occurred in the same individuals after adjustment for age and other covariates. In general, hand exostoses were not associated with aortic calcification.

Abdominal aortic calcific deposits are an important predictor of vascular morbidity and mortality

BACKGROUND

The impact of abdominal arterial calcific deposits on the prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a long follow-up interval deserves greater scrutiny.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Lateral lumbar radiographs were studied as a predictor of incident coronary heart disease (CHD), CVD, and CVD mortality in 1049 men and 1466 women (mean age, 61 years) who were followed from 1967 to 1989. Anterior and posterior wall calcific deposits in the aorta at the level of the first through fourth lumbar vertebrae were graded according to increasing severity using a previously validated rating scale for abdominal aortic calcium (AAC) that ranges from 0 to 24 points. There were 454 cases of CHD, 709 cases of CVD, and 365 CVD deaths. Proportional hazards logistic regression was used to test for associations between AAC and later events after adjustment for age, cigarette use, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy, body mass index, cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. In comparisons with the lowest AAC tertile, the multivariate age-adjusted relative risks (RR) for CVD were increased in tertile 2 (men: RR, 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 1.74; women: RR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.65) and tertile 3 (men: RR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.27; women: RR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.33 to 2.38). Similar results were obtained with CHD and CVD mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

AAC deposits, detected by lateral lumbar radiograms, are a marker of subclinical atherosclerotic disease and an independent predictor of subsequent vascular morbidity and mortality.

Vasodilator responses of coronary conduit and resistance arteries to continuous nitroglycerin infusion in humans: a Doppler guide wire study

To examine the responses of coronary conduit and resistance arteries to the continuous i.v. administration of nitroglycerin in 15 patients with atypical chest pain, we measured coronary blood flow velocity in the left anterior descending coronary artery using a Doppler guide wire and the lumen diameter and cross-sectional area by quantitative coronary angiography. Systolic flow, diastolic flow, total coronary flow, and coronary vascular resistance were calculated. Stepwise increases in dose of nitroglycerin resulted in significant dose-dependent decrease in mean aortic pressure (p < 0.01) and increase in lumen diameter (p < 0.05). After nitroglycerin administration of 0.5 microg/kg/min, systolic flow decreased significantly by 89.9+/-15.7% (p < 0.01), and diastolic flow increased significantly by 74.2+/-37.1% (p < 0.05). Total coronary flow did not change significantly with the various doses of nitroglycerin. However, coronary vascular resistance decreased significantly at concentrations greater than 0.5 microg/kg/min nitroglycerin. Continuous nitroglycerin infusion did not reduce either diastolic or total coronary blood flow despite a significant reduction in coronary perfusion pressure. These results indicate that subendocardial blood flow might be maintained during continuous i.v. infusion of nitroglycerin within the clinical dose range.

Arteriographic assessment of coronary atherosclerosis. Review of current methods, their limitations, and clinical applications

Coronary arteriography is presently the definitive procedure for characterizing the location and severity of coronary atherosclerosis; and despite certain reported limitations, we believe that the properly performed coronary arteriogram provides a true picture of the arterial lumen in life. Yet this widely-used clinical tool is currently limited by imprecise and, to a certain extent, inappropriate subjective methods of interpretation. More objective methods for analysis of the arteriographic information content have been described. These include caliper- and vernier- based systems for measuring relative arterial narrowing, computer-assisted methods for making accurate measurements of absolute stenosis dimensions, and photodensitometric methods for extracting three-dimensional information from a planar image of the stenosis. The availability of these objective techniques has resulted in a considerable increase in our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms in coronary disease. Advances include an expanded understanding of the mechanisms of action of nitroglycerin and verapamil and of the coronary artery constriction induced by drugs of isometric stress. Stenosis measurements have served as the basis for evaluation of certain noninvasive techniques used to detect coronary disease. An analytical approach has been developed to characterize the progression (and regression) of coronary disease from serial arteriograms. We believe clinical investigations based on these techniques hold considerable promise for further advances in the understanding of human coronary pathophysiology.

Quantitative coronary arteriography: estimation of dimensions, hemodynamic resistance, and atheroma mass of coronary artery lesions using the arteriogram and digital computation

More accurate characterization of coronary artery lesions is needed for evaluation of short and long-term interventions in coronary disease. A method of segmental artery analysis has been developed to maximize the information obtained from coronary arteriograms. Coronary lesions are traced from two projected, perpendicular, 35 mm cineangiographic views and transmetted, in digital form, to a PDP 11/45 computer. Magnification and distortion of the image are compensated for in order to determine the actual vessel profiles, using the catheter and its location as a scaling device. The two views are matched; a spatial representation of the vessel centerline is constructed mathematically; and orthogonal vessel diameters are computed at increments along this centerline. Assuming an elliptical lumen, the absolute and percentage reduction in diameter and cross-sectional area in the stenosis are computed. More complex functions (integrated atheroma mass, Poiseuille resistance, and orifice resistance) are then calculated. The accuracy and variability of the different steps involved in lesion analysis have been determined. Dimensional accuracies of +/- 150 microns (SD) are feasible. Examples are given of patients with Prinzmetal's angina and with progressive coronary disease.

Studies of regression of advanced atherosclerosis in experimental animals and man

In general, the results to date in humans and experimental animals seem to indicate that substantial regression of advanced atherosclerosis is possible. The results also indicate that the advanced atherosclerotic lesions are much more likely to respond favorably if the serum cholesterol concentrations are reduced to the minimum that prevails in animals or people who consume a low-fat low-cholesterol diet. In human subjects and in rhesus monkeys, this value appears to be about 150 mg%. Under these circumstances, much of the lipid disappears from the plaques, and the remaining fibrous tissue and cells appear to condense and undergo remodeling, as they do in fracture or wound healing. Additional effort will be required to ascertain how rapidly and how much of the fiber proteins and calcium can be removed from the advanced plaques and to work out methods that will consistently produce regression of advanced atherosclerotic lesions in human subjects. This goal would appear to be worth working toward. Interruption of progression of atherosclerosis appears to be more easily achieved, and it also would appear to be a worthwhile goal. The diagram that is reproduced as FIGURE 2 presents the multiple methods of intervention in atherosclerosis that are now available to the physician and to the patient. To those of us who look on atherosclerosis as an almost completely preventable disease and one that is largely reversible, the following quotation from the perceptive essay by Lewis Thomas seems to be prophetic and most appropriate. An extremely complex and costly technology for the management of coronary heart disease has evolved, involving specialized ambulances and hospital units, all kinds of electronic gadgetry and whole platoons of new professional personnel to deal with the end results of coronary thrombosis. Almost everything offered today for the treatment of heat disease is at this level of technology, with the transplatned and artificial hearts as ultimate examples. When enough has been learned for us to know what really goes wrong in heart disease, we ought to be in a position to figure out ways to prevent or reverse the process; and when this happens, the current elaborate technology will be set to one side.