Association of lower extremity peripheral arterial disease with quantitative muscle features from computed tomography angiography

ConclusionsLower extremity muscle features are associated with PAD severity and can be used for PAD prediction.Critical relevance statementQuantitative image features of lower extremity muscles are associated with the degree of lower leg arterial stenosis/occlusion and can be a beneficial supplement to the current imaging methods of vascular stenosis evaluation for the prediction of peripheral arterial disease severity.Key points• Compared with severe PAD, lower leg muscles of mild PAD showed higher CT values (39.5 vs. 44.6, p  <  0.001).• Models developed with muscle CT features had AUC = 0.89 for predicting PAD.• PAD severity prediction can be realized through the middle and inferior segment of images (AUC = 0.90).Graphical Abstract
Source: Insights into Imaging - Category: Radiology Source Type: research