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Atherosclerosis of the carotid artery: Evaluation by magnetic resonance angiography
Author(s) -
Wildy Kathryn S.,
Yuan Chun,
Tsuruda Jay S.,
Ferguson Marina S.,
Wen Nuan,
Subramaniam Deepa S.,
Strandness D. Eugene
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.1880060505
Subject(s) - medicine , carotid endarterectomy , stenosis , magnetic resonance angiography , radiology , calcification , angiography , magnetic resonance imaging , histology , endarterectomy , carotid arteries , conventional angiography , nuclear medicine , pathology
Carotid artery atherosclerotic plaques (APs) can lead to brain ischemia, an event shown to correlate with both the degree of stenosis and the composition of the AP. Currently, accurate estimates of stenosis can be obtained by either x‐ray angiography or three‐dimensional time of‐flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Our purpose was to determine whether three‐dimensional TOF MRA images could also provide information on plaque location, morphology, and composition. Seven pre‐endarterectomy patients underwent three‐dimensional TOF MRA. After endarterectomy, plaque histology was evaluated. Three‐dimensional TOF MRA images contained sufficient soft tissue contrast to differentiate the plaques from the surrounding tissues in all cases. Estimation of plaque morphology had 80% correlation with histology. Finally, intraplaque hemorrhage and calcification were depicted as regions of moderately high and very low intensity, respectively. These preliminary results suggest that three‐dimensional TOF MRA may be useful in studying the development and progression of carotid atherosclerosis.