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Characterization of Atherosclerotic Plaques by Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Author(s) -
FAYAD ZAHI,
FUSTER VALENTIN
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06312.x
Subject(s) - magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , thrombus , stenosis , radiology , disease , fibrous cap , pathology , cardiology
A bstract : The study of atherosclerotic disease during its natural history and after therapeutic intervention will enhance our understanding of the progression and regression of this disease and will aid in selecting the appropriate medical treatments or surgical interventions. Several invasive and non‐invasive imaging techniques are available to assess atherosclerotic vessels. Most of these techniques are strong in identifying the morphological features of the disease, such as lumenal diameter and stenosis or wall thickness, and in some cases provide an assessment of the relative risk associated with the atherosclerosis. However, none of these techniques can fully characterize the composition of the atherosclerotic plaque in the vessel wall and, therefore, are incapable of identifying the vulnerable plaques. High‐resolution, multi‐contrast, magnetic resonance (MR) can non‐invasively image vulnerable plaques, characterize plaques in terms of lipid and fibrous content, and identify the presence of thrombus or calcium. Application of MR imaging opens up whole new areas for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment (e.g., lipid‐lowering drug regimens) of atherosclerosis.