Applications of computed tomography in cardiac disease: distribution of atherosclerosis over the coronary tree

Abstract

Coronary artery disease remains a global health burden and one of the most prevalent causes of mortality. New technology has enabled to visualize, quantify and characterize the underlying disease (atherosclerosis) on computed tomography imaging (CT). Clinical studies have observed an uneven distribution of culprit lesions causing myocardial infarction. My thesis focuses on the distribution of atherosclerosis over the coronary tree, with predilection spots for growth of atherosclerosis, in earlier stages of the disease as compared to mentioned clinical studies. This has improved the understanding of coronary atherosclerosis and will hopefully be translated into helping clinical decision making in future research.