Threshold for calcium volume evaluation in patients with aortic valve stenosis: correlation with Agatston score

Background The evaluation of aortic valve calcium burden is important when planning for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Although a robust golden standard methodology is available for calcium evaluation on noncontrast-enhanced (NCE) computed tomographic (CT) series, a standard reference for calcium assessment on contrast-enhanced CT series is currently lacking. Methods Two hundred and forty-four preprocedural CT scans from patients who had received TAVI were analysed. We correlated the aortic calcium volumes obtained on CE series at three thresholds [450, 850, and ‘probe + 100’ Hounsfield Units (HU)] with the Agatston score obtained on NCE scans. A subgroup analysis was performed taking into account the contrast enhancement of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT), with a prespecified cut-off of 300 HU. Results The overall population analysis showed higher correlation with the Agatston score using the 850 HU threshold (r = 0.45, P 
Source: Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Tags: Research articles: Valvular heart disease Source Type: research