A stenosis is an abnormal narrowing in a blood vessel or other tubular organ or structure. A coronary artery that’s constricted or narrowed is called stenosed. Buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances over time may clog the artery. Many heart attacks are caused by a complete blockage of a vessel in the heart, called a coronary artery.
Published in Chapter:
Angiographic Images Segmentation Techniques
Francisco J. Nóvoa (University of A Coruña, Spain), Alberto Curra (University of A Coruña, Spain), M. Gloria López (University of A Coruña, Spain), and Virginia Mato (University of A Coruña, Spain)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 8
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-849-9.ch017
Abstract
Heart-related pathologies are among the most frequent health problems in western society. Symptoms that point towards cardiovascular diseases are usually diagnosed with angiographies, which allow the medical expert to observe the bloodflow in the coronary arteries and detect severe narrowing (stenosis). According to the severity, extension, and location of these narrowings, the expert pronounces a diagnosis, defines a treatment, and establishes a prognosis. The current modus operandi is for clinical experts to observe the image sequences and take decisions on the basis of their empirical knowledge. Various techniques and segmentation strategies now aim at objectivizing this process by extracting quantitative and qualitative information from the angiographies.