Evaluation of arterial wall imaging with 16-slice multi-detector computed tomography

We have characterized the performance of 16-slice cardiac MDCT for assessment of coronary disease burden and lesion composition under optimal conditions. Morphology measurements with MDCT were accurate and reproducible. Detection of lipid-containing regions was possible with sensitivities ≥ 88% and specificity of 96% for regions ≥ 1.5 mm in size with ≥ 30% lipid. Estimation of lipid pool dimension is difficult and lipid pool CT densities cannot be used directly to determine the %lipid content due to noise and blurring. These results represent the best-case performance of MDCT and help to guide interpretation of images obtained in vivo.