Role of CT angiography in detection of vulnerable plaque

Thomas Tu, MD FACC FSCAI Vietnam National Congress of Cardiology Da Nang, Vietnam October 12, 2014... Vulnerable Patient/Plaque  One third of cases of sudden death and acute myocardial

Thomas Tu, MD FACC FSCAI Vietnam National Congress of Cardiology

Da Nang, Vietnam October 12, 2014

Vulnerable Patient/Plaque

 One third of cases of sudden death and acute

myocardial infarction occur in previously

asymptomatic patients

 Most of these patients have sub-clinical disease and

presence of risk factors

 Identification of these prior to the index event is

crucial to lowering the morbidity/mortality of this condition

Conclusions

 Identification of the vulnerable plaque/patient will be

the next frontier in treatment/prevention of

myocardial infarction

 Better non-invasive screening techniques will be

required to direct therapy

 CT angiography has identified multiple factors that

predict MI Further research is necessary to refine this tool