Аннтотация

© 2018 Russian Electronic Journal of Radiology.All right reserved. Purpose: Assessing the dynamics of vulnerability of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with angina pectoris on atorvastatin therapy (40 mg for 10-12 months) based on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) data. Materials and methods: The study prospectively enrolled 74 patients with angina pectoris not medicated with statins. All patients underwent CCTA. 30 patients with vulnerability of atherosclerotic plaques were selected for further observation and atorvastatin was administered to them at dose of 40 mg. Repeated tomography scans were recorded 10-12 months later. Images were analyzed by "Vitrea" workstation in a blind manner. Statistical processing was performed on SPSS version 11.5 software (BioStat). Results: Statistically insignificant decrease in: total plaque volume (from 188.64 ± 35.8 to 184.96 ± 34.45 mm3), low-attenuation plaque (from 60.46 ± 12.87 to 57.06 ± 12.34 mm3), degree of stenosis (from 41.6 ± 3.16 to 40.65 ± 3.26%), spotty calcification (from 86.0 to 90%), remodeling index (from 1.25 [1,0;1,4] to 1.1 [1,0;1,4]), napkin-ring sign (from 69.76 to 60%), irregularity of the contour (from 79.1 to 65%). LDL levels decreased from 3.23 ± 0.33 to 2.76 ± 0.27 mmol/L. Statistically significant decrease of total cholesterol was from 5.75 ± 0.45 to 4.42 ± 0.57 mmol/L. The study also revealed statistically significant positive correlation between decrease of LDL levels and total plaque volume decrease (R=0.51, P=0.002), mainly because of lowattenuation components. Conclusion: We review our experience of using CCTA for noninvasive monitoring of vulnerability of atherosclerotic plaques in dynamics and show that atherosclerotic plaques stabilize on long-term atorvastatin treatment.