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Until today, there are no universally accepted methods for detection of unstable atherosclerotic plaques, even though many recent studies were devoted to this issue. In this article we present modern possibilities of computed tomography in visualization of atherosclerotic coronary lesion, including the detection of unstable lesions, whot in turn, can help in diagnosing subclinical exacerbation of ischemic heart disease and in the stratification of risks of acute coronary events.

Nowadays an invasive evaluation of fractional flow reserve (FFR) is one of the main methods used for detecting lesions that cause ischemia. Invasively obtained FFR <0.75 has the specificity of 100 %, and FFR >0.80 has the sensitivity >90 %. Recent achievements in computational fluid dynamics and computer simulations allow noninvasive assessment of FFR using data obtained by CT angiography performed according to standard protocol at rest without additional radiation, modification of image acquisition protocols, or added medications for vasodilatation. The present review covers the results of the DISCOVER, the NXT, the DEFACTO and the PLATFORM randomized multicenter studies as well as the prospects of using a noninvasive method for measuring FFR developed by specialists of the Institute of Numerical Mathematics in collaboration with specialists of the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.