Possibilities and limits of X-ray microtomography for in vivo and ex vivo detection of vascular calcifications

In the present paper, vascular calcifications due to chronic renal failure in rats are studied by X-ray microtomography (μ-CT). Although μ-CT is traditionally used as an imaging technique, a quantitative analysis of data obtained by in vivo and ex vivo μ-CT is described and discussed. By comparison with traditional destructive methods, such as histomorphometry and atomic absorption, the detection limits for calcium were determined in living rats and in extracted aortas. μ-CT proved to be an effective non-invasive imaging technique allowing non-destructive quantification of ectopic calcifications.