Agata Wiktorowicz, Adrian Wit, Artur Dziewierz, Lukasz Rzeszutko, Dariusz Dudek and Pawel Kleczynski* Pages 3769 - 3775 ( 7 )
Background: Progression of aortic valve calcifications (AVC) leads to aortic valve stenosis (AS). Importantly, the AVC degree has a great impact on AS progression, treatment selection and outcomes. Methods of AVC assessment do not provide accurate quantitative evaluation and analysis of calcium distribution and deposition in a repetitive manner.
Objective: We aim to prepare a reliable tool for detailed AVC pattern analysis with quantitative parameters.
Methods: We analyzed computed tomography (CT) scans of fifty patients with severe AS using a dedicated software based on MATLAB version R2017a (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA) and ImageJ version 1.51 (NIH, USA) with the BoneJ plugin version 1.4.2 with a self-developed algorithm.
Results: We listed unique parameters describing AVC and prepared 3D AVC models with color pointed calcium layer thickness in the stenotic aortic valve. These parameters were derived from CT-images in a semi-automated and repeatable manner. They were divided into morphometric, topological and textural parameters and may yield crucial information about the anatomy of the stenotic aortic valve.
Conclusion: In our study, we were able to obtain and define quantitative parameters for calcium assessment of the degenerated aortic valves. Whether the defined parameters are able to predict potential long-term outcomes after treatment, requires further investigation.
Aortic stenosis, calcifications, computer modelling, computed tomography, quantification, calcium distribution.
2nd Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Kopernika St. 17, Krakow, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza Ave. 30, 30-059 Krakow, 2nd Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Kopernika St. 17, Krakow, 2nd Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Kopernika St. 17, Krakow, 2nd Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Kopernika St. 17, Krakow, 2nd Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Kopernika St. 17, Krakow