This histopathologic study confirms an intimate relation between whole heart, coronary artery, and segmental coronary atherosclerotic plaque area and EBCT coronary calcium area but suggests that there is a threshold value for plaque area below which coronary calcium is either absent or not detectable by this methodology.

The detection of coronary calcification by ultrafast computed tomographic scanning is highly predictive of the presence of histopathologic coronary disease, but the use of this technique to define the extent of coronary disease may be limited. However, the absence of coronary calcification at any site is highly specific for the absence of obstructive disease.

No abstract

Congenital anomalies of the aortic arch are rare, with very few cases reported in the literature. Congenital absence of the common carotid artery (CCA), with separate origins of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and external carotid artery (ECA) is a rare anomaly. This case illustrates a congenital anomaly in the development of the right carotid system. By use of duplex sonography, we report of the absence of the right CCA with separate ICA and ECA originating from the innominate artery.

No abstract