New research on AI-based CCTA assessments wins Best Abstract at SCCT 2023

The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) has announced the winners of its Best Abstract awards, designed to honor noteworthy research presented at the group’s 2023 annual meeting, SCCT 2023.

SCCT 2023 occurred in Boston from July 27-July 30. SCCT accepted more than 250 abstracts during that time. A three-round voting process was used to determine a series of finalists, and then a panel of judges reviewed each presentation before selecting three winners.

Teemu Maaniitty, MD, PhD, of Turku University Hospital in Finland, and his co-authors won first place—and a $5,000 prize—for their abstract, “Prognostic Value Of A Novel Artificial Intelligence-based CCTA-derived Ischemia Algorithm In Patients With Suspected Coronary Artery Disease: Comparison Against Hybrid CCTA/PET Perfusion Imaging.”

The work of Maaniitty et al. found that an artificial intelligence algorithm designed to assess myocardial ischemia using CCTA images showed “similar long-term prognostic value as hybrid CCTA/PET perfusion imaging” when evaluating patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The researchers examined data from more than 1,200 patients with a median age of 63 years old.

Borek Foldyna, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues won second place for their abstract, “Prognostic Significance Of Automated Epicardial Adipose Tissue Quantification From Lung Cancer Screening CT.”

Ben Duggan, MD, of Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, and colleagues won third place for their abstract, “Minimum Quantifiable Plaque Volume That Is Visually Detectable As Atherosclerosis Using Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography.”

“With the highest number of abstract submissions at our Annual Scientific Meeting combined with the high-quality research we reviewed as a judging panel, the SCCT Best Abstract awards truly recognize the best and most promising abstracts in the field,” said chair of the Best Abstract judging panel, Milind Desai, MD, chair of the judging panel, said in a prepared statement. “We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Maaniitty, the runners-up and finalists on their exceptional work.”

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Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

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