Sex differences in coronary artery plaque composition detected by coronary computed tomography: quantitative and qualitative analysis

Fig. 1. Flow chart describing patient selection (CAD coronary artery disease, CABG coronary artery bypass graft, CTA computed tomography angiography, MI myocardial infarction, PCI percutaneous coronary intervention, TAVI transcatheter aortic valve implantation)

Fig. 2. Bar chart showing the prevalence of CTA findings. Comparison of CT findings between females (grey bars) and males (white bars) (CCS coronary calcium score, LAP low-attenuation plaque, NR napkin-ring sign, PR positive remodelling, SC spotty calcification)

Fig. 3. Odds radio (95% confidence interval, CI) for predicting acute coronary syndrome in female (dark grey) and male (light grey) patients by CT findings. Annotations below depict overall odds ratio (without separation by sex) (CCS coronary calcium score, HRP high-risk plaque, LAP low-attenuation plaque, NR napkin-ring sign, PR positive remodelling, SC spotty calcification)

Fig. 4. A 61-year-old patient with a history of smoking and diabetes. CTA revealed four high-risk plaque features in the distal left main/proximal left anterior descending artery (a arrowhead): low-attenuation plaque (b annotation) with napkin-ring sign (b arrowheads) and positive remodelling (b, c dashed line) and spotty calcification (a, c). The patient suffered from non-ST elevation myocardial infarction 2 months after CT and died of heart failure 3 years later