NCT03591328

Exploring the Mechanism of Plaque Rupture in Acute Coronary Syndrome Using Coronary CT Angiography and Computational Fluid Dynamics II (EMERALD II) Study

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 429 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Seoul National University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The EMERALD II study is a multinational, multicenter, and retrospective study. ACS patients who underwent CCTA from 1 months to 3 years prior to the event will be retrospectively identified. Plaques in the non-culprit vessels will be regarded as a primary control group.

Detailed description

The mechanisms of plaque rupture are not fully understood. Hemodynamic forces, plaque vulnerability, and the interaction between these factors may cause plaque instability and subsequent acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Previously, the first-in-human study, EMERALD I, showed that the addition of hemodynamic parameters calculated noninvasively from coronary computed tomography (CCTA) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) improved the ability to predict the risk of ACS compared with conventional approaches based on anatomical stenosis severity and adverse plaque characteristics. In addition to hemodynamic properties, quantified compositional plaque volumes such as fibrofatty and necrotic core volume (FFNC) or low-attenuation plaque burden (% plaque to vessel volume) have been proven to be robust prognostic indicators of ACS. While various hemodynamic and plaque features predictive of ACS have been introduced, the relative importance among them and the additive value of the risk model with the best features over the current diagnostic scheme of CCTA have not been proposed. In this regard, we designed the subsequent EMERALD II study to find the best hemodynamic and plaque features in prediction of ACS from comprehensive CCTA analysis, including per-lesion and per-vessel plaque quantification and hemodynamic analysis, and to investigate whether a comprehensive risk prediction model with them has an incremental value in a larger population.

Conditions

• Acute Myocardial Infarction
• Unstable Angina

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Coronary CT angiography	Comprehensive CCTA analysis of all culprit and non-culprit lesions to obtain their per-lesion and per-vessel quantitative, qualitative plaque, and hemodynamic features is performed by the independent core laboratory (HeartFlow, Mountain View, CA, USA) blinded to patient characteristics and ICA findings. The current CCTA reporting variables, including % diameter stenosis, segment involvement score (SIS), and HRP features, are obtained for all lesions by another independent core laboratory (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) to construct a reference model. ICA and invasive imaging studies performed at the event of ACS are analyzed by the independent core laboratory (Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea) to define the culprit lesion blinded to CCTA findings. Other independent experts match culprit and non-culprit lesion data between ICA and CCTA findings.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-07-09
• Primary completion: 2022-09-30
• Completion: 2022-12-31
• First posted: 2018-07-19
• Last updated: 2022-08-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: South Korea