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magnetic resonance imaging of lipid deposits in human atheroma via a stimulated‐echo diffusion‐weighted technique
Author(s) -
Altbach Maria I.,
Mattingly Mark A.,
Brown Michael F.,
Gmitro Arthur F.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.1910200215
Subject(s) - nuclear magnetic resonance , atheroma , cholesteryl ester , magnetic resonance imaging , chemistry , spin echo , materials science , cholesterol , medicine , physics , lipoprotein , radiology , biochemistry
NMR images of subintimal lipid deposits within the vessel walls of atherosclerotic human aortas were obtained at 37 and 27°C at 4.7 T. A combination of a stimulated‐echo and pulsed‐field gradients was used for suppressing the mobile tissue water relative to the less mobile tissue lipids. At 27°C there was also a substantial reduction of the subintimal lipid signal intensity, which is consistent with the characteristic phase transition of cholesteryl esters in human atheroma. These results represent the first direct detection of lipid deposits in nonprotruding atherosclerotic lesions with NMR imaging. © 1991 Academic Press, Inc.