Abstract
Potentially, Agatston coronary artery calcium (CAC) score could be calculated on contrast computed tomography coronary angiography (CTA). This will make a separate non-contrast CT scan superfluous. This study aims to assess the performance of a novel fully automatic algorithm to detect and quantify the Agatston CAC score in contrast CTA images. From a clinical registry, 20 patients were randomly selected for each CAC category (i.e. 0, 1–99, 100–399, 400–999, ≥1,000). The Agatston CAC score on non-contrast CT was calculated manually, while the novel algorithm was used to automatically detect and quantify Agatston CAC score in contrast CTA images. The resulting Agatston CAC scores were validated against the non-contrast images. A total of 100 patients (60 ± 11 years, 63 men) were included. The median CAC score on non-contrast CT was 145 (IQR 5–760), whereas the contrast CTA CAC score was 170 (IQR 23–594) (P = 0.004). The automatically computed CAC score showed a high correlation (R = 0.949; P < 0.001) and intra-class correlation (R = 0.863; P < 0.001) with non-contrast CT CAC score. Moreover, agreement within CAC categories was good (κ 0.588). Fully automatic detection of Agatston CAC score on contrast CTA is feasible and showed high correlation with non-contrast CT CAC score. This could imply a radiation dose reduction and time saving by omitting the non-contrast scan.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Roger VL, Go AS, Lloyd-Jones DM, Benjamin EJ, Berry JD, Borden WB, Bravata DM, Dai S, Ford ES, Fox CS, Fullerton HJ, Gillespie C, Hailpern SM, Heit JA, Howard VJ, Kissela BM, Kittner SJ, Lackland DT, Lichtman JH, Lisabeth LD, Makuc DM, Marcus GM, Marelli A, Matchar DB, Moy CS, Mozaffarian D, Mussolino ME, Nichol G, Paynter NP, Soliman EZ, Sorlie PD, Sotoodehnia N, Turan TN, Virani SS, Wong ND, Woo D, Turner MB (2012) Executive summary: heart disease and stroke statistics–2012 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation 125:188–197
Genders TS, Pugliese F, Mollet NR, Meijboom WB, Weustink AC, van Mieghem CA, de Feyter PJ, Hunink MG (2010) Incremental value of the CT coronary calcium score for the prediction of coronary artery disease. Eur Radiol 20:2331–2340
Greenland P, Bonow RO, Brundage BH, Budoff MJ, Eisenberg MJ, Grundy SM, Lauer MS, Post WS, Raggi P, Redberg RF, Rodgers GP, Shaw LJ, Taylor AJ, Weintraub WS (2007) ACCF/AHA 2007 clinical expert consensus document on coronary artery calcium scoring by computed tomography in global cardiovascular risk assessment and in evaluation of patients with chest pain: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Clinical Expert Consensus Task Force (ACCF/AHA Writing Committee to Update the 2000 Expert Consensus Document on Electron Beam Computed Tomography) developed in collaboration with the Society of Atherosclerosis Imaging and Prevention and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. J Am Coll Cardiol 49:378–402
Agatston AS, Janowitz WR, Hildner FJ, Zusmer NR, Viamonte M Jr, Detrano R (1990) Quantification of coronary artery calcium using ultrafast computed tomography. J Am Coll Cardiol 15:827–832
Folsom AR, Kronmal RA, Detrano RC, O’Leary DH, Bild DE, Bluemke DA, Budoff MJ, Liu K, Shea S, Szklo M, Tracy RP, Watson KE, Burke GL (2008) Coronary artery calcification compared with carotid intima-media thickness in the prediction of cardiovascular disease incidence: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Arch Intern Med 168:1333–1339
Budoff MJ, Gul KM (2008) Expert review on coronary calcium. Vasc Health Risk Manag 4:315–324
Detrano R, Guerci AD, Carr JJ, Bild DE, Burke G, Folsom AR, Liu K, Shea S, Szklo M, Bluemke DA, O’Leary DH, Tracy R, Watson K, Wong ND, Kronmal RA (2008) Coronary calcium as a predictor of coronary events in four racial or ethnic groups. N Engl J Med 358:1336–1345
Polonsky TS, McClelland RL, Jorgensen NW, Bild DE, Burke GL, Guerci AD, Greenland P (2010) Coronary artery calcium score and risk classification for coronary heart disease prediction. JAMA 303:1610–1616
Budoff MJ, Shaw LJ, Liu ST, Weinstein SR, Mosler TP, Tseng PH, Flores FR, Callister TQ, Raggi P, Berman DS (2007) Long-term prognosis associated with coronary calcification: observations from a registry of 25,253 patients. J Am Coll Cardiol 49:1860–1870
Greenland P, LaBree L, Azen SP, Doherty TM, Detrano RC (2004) Coronary artery calcium score combined with Framingham score for risk prediction in asymptomatic individuals. JAMA 291:210–215
Meijboom WB, Meijs MF, Schuijf JD, Cramer MJ, Mollet NR, van Mieghem CA, Nieman K, van Werkhoven JM, Pundziute G, Weustink AC, de Vos AM, Pugliese F, Rensing B, Jukema JW, Bax JJ, Prokop M, Doevendans PA, Hunink MG, Krestin GP, de Feyter PJ (2008) Diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography: a prospective, multicenter, multivendor study. J Am Coll Cardiol 52:2135–2144
Hamon M, Biondi-Zoccai GG, Malagutti P, Agostoni P, Morello R, Valgimigli M, Hamon M (2006) Diagnostic performance of multislice spiral computed tomography of coronary arteries as compared with conventional invasive coronary angiography: a meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol 48:1896–1910
Meijer AB, YL O, Geleijns J, Kroft LJ (2008) Meta-analysis of 40- and 64-MDCT angiography for assessing coronary artery stenosis. AJR Am J Roentgenol 191:1667–1675
Mowatt G, Cook JA, Hillis GS, Walker S, Fraser C, Jia X, Waugh N (2008) 64-Slice computed tomography angiography in the diagnosis and assessment of coronary artery disease: systematic review and meta-analysis. Heart 94:1386–1393
Budoff MJ, Dowe D, Jollis JG, Gitter M, Sutherland J, Halamert E, Scherer M, Bellinger R, Martin A, Benton R, Delago A, Min JK (2008) Diagnostic performance of 64-multidetector row coronary computed tomographic angiography for evaluation of coronary artery stenosis in individuals without known coronary artery disease: results from the prospective multicenter ACCURACY (Assessment by Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography of Individuals Undergoing Invasive Coronary Angiography) trial. J Am Coll Cardiol 52:1724–1732
Miller JM, Rochitte CE, Dewey M, Arbab-Zadeh A, Niinuma H, Gottlieb I, Paul N, Clouse ME, Shapiro EP, Hoe J, Lardo AC, Bush DE, de Roos A, Cox C, Brinker J, Lima JA (2008) Diagnostic performance of coronary angiography by 64-row CT. N Engl J Med 359:2324–2336
Einstein AJ (2012) Effects of radiation exposure from cardiac imaging: how good are the data? J Am Coll Cardiol 59:553–565
van der Bijl N, Joemai RM, Geleijns J, Bax JJ, Schuijf JD, de Roos A, Kroft LJ (2010) Assessment of Agatston coronary artery calcium score using contrast-enhanced CT coronary angiography. AJR Am J Roentgenol 195:1299–1305
Mylonas I, Alam M, Amily N, Small G, Chen L, Yam Y, Hibbert B, Chow BJ (2013) Quantifying coronary artery calcification from a contrast-enhanced cardiac computed tomography angiography study. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 15(2):210–215
Glodny B, Helmel B, Trieb T, Schenk C, Taferner B, Unterholzner V, Strasak A, Petersen J (2009) A method for calcium quantification by means of CT coronary angiography using 64-multidetector CT: very high correlation with Agatston and volume scores. Eur Radiol 19:1661–1668
Hong C, Becker CR, Schoepf UJ, Ohnesorge B, Bruening R, Reiser MF (2002) Coronary artery calcium: absolute quantification in nonenhanced and contrast-enhanced multi-detector row CT studies. Radiology 223:474–480
Bischoff B, Kantert C, Meyer T, Hadamitzky M, Martinoff S, Schomig A, Hausleiter J (2012) Cardiovascular risk assessment based on the quantification of coronary calcium in contrast-enhanced coronary computed tomography angiography. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 13:468–475
van Werkhoven JM, Schuijf JD, Gaemperli O, Jukema JW, Kroft LJ, Boersma E, Pazhenkottil A, Valenta I, Pundziute G, de Roos A, van der Wall EE, Kaufmann PA, Bax JJ (2009) Incremental prognostic value of multi-slice computed tomography coronary angiography over coronary artery calcium scoring in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Eur Heart J 30:2622–2629
de Graaf FR, Schuijf JD, van Velzen JE, Kroft LJ, de Roos A, Reiber JH, Boersma E, Schalij MJ, Spano F, Jukema JW, van der Wall EE, Bax JJ (2010) Diagnostic accuracy of 320-row multidetector computed tomography coronary angiography in the non-invasive evaluation of significant coronary artery disease. Eur Heart J 31:1908–1915
Rutten A, Krul SP, Meijs MF, de Vos AM, Cramer MJ, Prokop M (2008) Variability of coronary calcium scores throughout the cardiac cycle: implications for the appropriate use of electrocardiogram-dose modulation with retrospectively gated computed tomography. Invest Radiol 43:187–194
Valentin, J. (2007) Managing patient dose in multi-detector computed tomography(MDCT). ICRP Publication 102. Ann ICRP 37:1–79, iii
Yang G, Kitslaar P, Frenay M, Broersen A, Boogers MJ, Bax JJ, Reiber JH, Dijkstra J (2012) Automatic centerline extraction of coronary arteries in coronary computed tomographic angiography. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 28:921–933
Yang G, Broersen A, Petr R, Kitslaar P, de Graaf MA, Bax JJ, Reiber JHC, Dijkstra J (2012) Automatic coronary artery tree labeling in coronary computed tomographic angiography datasets. Comput Cardiol 38:109–102
Austen WG, Edwards JE, Frye RL, Gensini GG, Gott VL, Griffith LS, McGoon DC, Murphy ML, Roe BB (1975) A reporting system on patients evaluated for coronary artery disease. Report of the Ad Hoc Committee for Grading of Coronary Artery Disease, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery. Am Heart Assoc Circ 51:5–40
Rosner B (2005) Fundamentals of biostatistics
Bland JM, Altman DG (1986) Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1:307–310
Fleiss JL, Levin B, Paik MC (1981) Statistical methods for rates and proportions
Dalager MG, Bottcher M, Andersen G, Thygesen J, Pedersen EM, Dejbjerg L, Gotzsche O, Botker HE (2011) Impact of luminal density on plaque classification by CT coronary angiography. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 27:593–600
Muhlenbruch G, Wildberger JE, Koos R, Das M, Flohr TG, Niethammer M, Weiss C, Gunther RW, Mahnken AH (2005) Coronary calcium scoring using 16-row multislice computed tomography: nonenhanced versus contrast-enhanced studies in vitro and in vivo. Invest Radiol 40:148–154
Ebersberger U, Eilot D, Goldenberg R, Lev A, Spears JR, Rowe GW, Gallagher NY, Halligan WT, Blanke P, Makowski MR, Krazinski AW, Silverman JR, Bamberg F, Leber AW, Hoffmann E, Schoepf UJ (2013) Fully automated derivation of coronary artery calcium scores and cardiovascular risk assessment from contrast medium-enhanced coronary CT angiography studies. Eur Radiol 23:650–657
van der Bijl N, Joemai RM, Geleijns J, Bax JJ, Schuijf JD, de Roos A, Kroft LJ (2010) Assessment of Agatston coronary artery calcium score using contrast-enhanced CT coronary angiography. AJR Am J Roentgenol 195:1299–1305
Akram K, Rinehart S, Voros S (2008) Coronary arterial atherosclerotic plaque imaging by contrast-enhanced computed tomography: fantasy or reality? J Nucl Cardiol 15:818–829
Shareghi S, Ahmadi N, Young E, Gopal A, Liu ST, Budoff MJ (2007) Prognostic significance of zero coronary calcium scores on cardiac computed tomography. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr 1:155–159
Shaw LJ, Raggi P, Schisterman E, Berman DS, Callister TQ (2003) Prognostic value of cardiac risk factors and coronary artery calcium screening for all-cause mortality. Radiology 228:826–833
Budoff MJ, Young R, Lopez VA, Kronmal RA, Nasir K, Blumenthal RS, Detrano RC, Bild DE, Guerci AD, Liu K, Shea S, Szklo M, Post W, Lima J, Bertoni A, Wong ND (2013) Progression of coronary calcium and incident coronary heart disease events: MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis). J Am Coll Cardiol 61:1231–1239
Budoff MJ, Hokanson JE, Nasir K, Shaw LJ, Kinney GL, Chow D, Demoss D, Nuguri V, Nabavi V, Ratakonda R, Berman DS, Raggi P (2010) Progression of coronary artery calcium predicts all-cause mortality. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 3:1229–1236
Berrington de AB, Gonzalez A, Mahesh M, Kim KP, Bhargavan M, Lewis R, Mettler F, Land C (2009) Projected cancer risks from computed tomographic scans performed in the United States in 2007. Arch Intern Med 169:2071–2077
Achenbach S, Marwan M, Ropers D, Schepis T, Pflederer T, Anders K, Kuettner A, Daniel WG, Uder M, Lell MM (2010) Coronary computed tomography angiography with a consistent dose below 1 mSv using prospectively electrocardiogram-triggered high-pitch spiral acquisition. Eur Heart J 31:340–346
Achenbach S, Ropers D, Holle J, Muschiol G, Daniel WG, Moshage W (2000) In-plane coronary arterial motion velocity: measurement with electron-beam CT. Radiology 216:457–463
Mao S, Child J, Carson S, Liu SC, Oudiz RJ, Budoff MJ (2003) Sensitivity to detect small coronary artery calcium lesions with varying slice thickness using electron beam tomography. Invest Radiol 38:183–187
Acknowledgments
We thank A. Rares for his contribution to the preliminary experiments regarding this algorithm.
Conflict of interest
Michiel A. de Graaf is supported by a research grant from the Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands (ICIN, Utrecht, The Netherlands). The department of Cardiology received research grants from Biotronik, Medtronic, Boston Scientific Corporation, St Jude Medical, Lantheus Medical Imaging and GE Healthcare. This work was supported by Dutch Technology Foundation STW, Utrecht, the Netherlands, grant 10084. Pieter Kitslaar is employed by Medis medical imaging systems bv and has a research appointment at the Leiden University Medical Center. Hans Reiber is the Chief Executive Officer of Medis medical imaging systems bv and a Professor of Medical Imaging at the Leiden University Medical Center.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
W. Ahmed and M. A. de Graaf share first authorship.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmed, W., de Graaf, M.A., Broersen, A. et al. Automatic detection and quantification of the Agatston coronary artery calcium score on contrast computed tomography angiography. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 31, 151–161 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-014-0519-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-014-0519-4