ArticleQuantitative imaging in medicine and surgery2025
Superiority of black-blood computed tomography over conventional computed tomography angiography in the identification of soft plaques: a prospective study.
Article in Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A fusion model of deep learning and conventional features based on computed tomography angiography of carotid plaque for predicting the risk of acute ischemic stroke.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Black-blood computed tomography with contrast-enhancement boost for optimized portal vein imaging and segmentation: a feasibility study.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Carotid computed tomography angiography (CTA) has limited diagnostic value in evaluating the vulnerability of soft plaques. This study compared conventional CTA and black-blood computed tomography (BBCT) in terms of image quality and the ability to diagnose carotid soft plaques. Methods: Patients who underwent carotid CTA and magnetic resonance (MR) vessel wall examination were included in this prospective study. The image quality of plaques was evaluated through objective evaluation [CT values, image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) based on CTA and BBCT] and subjective evaluation. Plaque burden was assessed with the normalized wall index (NWI) in CTA, BBCT, and MR images, as was the remodeling index (RI). The number of soft plaques in CTA, BBCT, and MR images was recorded. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of an NWI higher than 0.56 and an RI higher than 1.0 from CTA and BBCT images in assessing the vulnerability of soft plaques were calculated with MR vessel wall images as a reference standard. Results: A total of 37 patients comprising 53 soft plaques (25 males and 12 females) were analyzed. The average CT values, SNR, and CNR of soft plaques in BBCT were significantly higher compared to those in CTA (BBCT: 65.38±21.34, 16.31±7.69, 6.47±4.97; CTA: 45.58±14.09, 7.16±3.15, 4.45±2.83; all P values <0.05). The image noise in BBCT was significantly lower than that in CTA (BBCT: 10.73±3.75; CTA: 15.52±6.59; P<0.05), while the subjective image score of BBCT (3.04±0.51) was significantly higher than that of CTA (2.32±0.61) (P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of an NWI higher than 0.56 with BBCT were 0.98 and 0.86, respectively, which were superior to those with CTA at 0.83 and 0.57, respectively. Meanwhile, the sensitivity and specificity of an RI higher than 1.0 with BBCT were 0.86 and 0.95, respectively, which were superior to those with CTA at 0.71 and 0.85, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of BBCT in diagnosing vulnerable plaques were 0.90 and 0.93, respectively, while those of CTA were 0.62 and 0.79, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of BBCT for diagnosing vulnerable plaques was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.803-0.973) while that for CTA was 0.70 (95% CI: 0.559-0.819; P<0.001). Conclusions: Compared to conventional CTA, BBCT provides improved image quality and diagnostic performance in assessing carotid soft plaques.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.