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Cardiovascular Clinical Research


Thomas Brady, MD
Udo Hoffmann, MD

Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Scoring
Title ACCURACY AND REPRODUCIBILITY OF CAC MEASUREMENTS BY MDCT
Study Aim Determine the accuracy and reproducibility of Agatston Score, Volume and Mineral Mass Measurements in 3000 patients. The study will determine the clinical impact of measurement variability with respect to prediction of coronary event risk.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD; Christopher O'Donnell, MD
Title MDCT BASED AGE AND GENDER SPECIFIC PERCENTILES FOR AGATSTON SCORE, VOLUME AND MINERAL MASS CREATE
Study Aim Create MDCT based age and gender specific percentiles for Agatston Score, Volume and Mineral Mass based on 3000 patients of the Framingham Heart Study.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD; Christopher O'Donnell, MD
Title SINGLE CALCIFIED PLAQUE DENSITY AS MEASURED BY MDCT: A MARKER OF PLAQUE MATURATION AND PREDICTOR OF PLAQUE PROGRESSION
Study Aim Determine in a placebo controlled randomized longitudinal intervention trial (Vitamin K supplementation over a 3 year period) whether plaque density predicts coronary events and the degree of CAD progression.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD; Sarah Booth, PhD
Title PHENOTYPING CAC PROGRESSION
Study Aim Compare morphology and distribution of CAC in several well characterized patient cohorts and families
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD; Chris O'Donnell, MD
Title WHAT IS BEHIND THE CALCIUM?
Study Aim Determine the underlying matrix of human coronary atherosclerotic plaques that appear calcified in MDCT using Volume CT and high field MR spectroscopy.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD


CT Coronary Angiography
Title VALUE OF MDCT FOR TRIAGE OF PATIENTS WITH ACUTE CHEST PAIN
Study Aim Demonstrate the incremental diagnostic value of early MDCT based detection of coronary artery stenosis in patients with acute chest pain in 400 patients. A prospective and blinded trial. Besides diagnostic imaging aspects this study includes decision modeling and cost-effectiveness analysis.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD
Title NONINVASIVE ASSESSMENT OF LESION MORPHOLOGY AND COMPOSITION BY MDCT. A COMPARISON OF CULPRIT AND NON-CULPRIT LESIONS IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES AND LESIONS IN PATIENTS WITHOUT ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES
Study Aim Determine whether contrast enhanced MDCT can differentiate between culprit and non-culprit coronary plaques based on lesion length, minimal lumen area, and degree of stenosis, remodeling index, and plaque composition.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD, IK Jang, MD
Title NONINVASIVE DETERMINATION OF COMPLEX CORONARY LESIONS BY MDCT AS COMPARED WITH SELECTIVE CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY
Study Aim Determine whether contrast enhanced MDCT can identify lesions that have been characterized as complex lesions in invasive selective coronary angiography which are known predictors of coronary events.
Principal Investigator Udo Hoffmann, MD, IK Jang, MD
Title QUANTIFICATION OF CORONARY STENOSIS BY 16-SLICE MDCT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH QUANTITATIVE CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY
Study Aim Determine the accuracy of MDCT to quantify the degree of luminal narrowing as compared to quantitative coronary angiography (QCA).
Principal Investigator Thomas Brady, MD