Atherosclerotic lesions at micro CT: feasibility for analysis of coronary artery wall in autopsy specimens

To evaluate the feasibility of micro computed tomography (CT) for analysis of the coronary artery wall.

With micro CT, two-dimensional transverse images were generated from 10 human autopsy specimens of coronary arteries (2.5-3.5 cm long), with section thickness of 6 microm. Vessel wall perimeter, plaque area, calcified lesion area, media area, and lumen area were determined by three experienced radiologists. Results were compared with those obtained from a detailed conventional histomorphometric analysis of corresponding cross sections. Hotelling T(2) test (a multivariate generalization of the univariate Student t test) and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to assess the correlation between micro CT findings and conventional histologic measurements. The significance of differences in gray-scale measurements was tested with analysis of variance.

Micro CT provided quantitative information about plaque morphology equivalent to that provided with histomorphometric analysis. Hotelling T(2) test revealed significantly smaller values for vessel wall perimeter and lumen area with histologic sections (P <.001). Gray-scale measurements were established with which lesions could be categorized after histologic classification.

Micro CT is feasible for analysis of the coronary artery wall.