Stanford W, Thompson B H
Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA.
Clin Chem. 1998 Aug;44(8 Pt 2):1871-81.
Coronary artery disease affects millions of Americans annually. In evaluating coronary artery disease, it is important to develop diagnostic methodology that can screen patients before the onset of symptoms or cardiac events and, in addition, evaluate the functional aspects of coronary artery disease, including any residual effects on the heart after events have occurred. Electron beam computed tomography allows the identification of coronary calcium, which is a marker for coronary atherosclerotic disease, and also allows the quantification of cardiac function, which may be altered from coronary atherosclerosis or the occurrence of a cardiac event. Thus, electron beam computed tomographic imaging is having a major impact on the diagnosis and follow-up on coronary artery disease.
冠状动脉疾病每年影响数百万美国人。在评估冠状动脉疾病时，开发一种能够在症状或心脏事件发作前筛查患者的诊断方法非常重要，此外，还要评估冠状动脉疾病的功能方面，包括事件发生后对心脏的任何残留影响。电子束计算机断层扫描可以识别冠状动脉钙化，这是冠状动脉粥样硬化疾病的一个标志物，还可以对心脏功能进行量化，而心脏功能可能因冠状动脉粥样硬化或心脏事件的发生而改变。因此，电子束计算机断层扫描成像对冠状动脉疾病的诊断和随访产生了重大影响。
