HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH RSS TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jnumed.108.060376v1 50/3/331    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JNM Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tahara, N. Articles by Narula, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tahara, N. Articles by Narula, J.

Clinical Feasibility of Molecular Imaging of Plaque Inflammation in Atherosclerosis

¹ University of California, Irvine, California; ² Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan; and ³ Cardiovascular Pathology Institute, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Jagat Narula, University of California, UCI Medical Center, 101 The City Dr., Bldg. 53, Rt. 81, Orange, CA. E-mail: narula{at}uci.edu

ABSTRACT

Despite substantial advances in the diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease, acute coronary events continue to occur in many patients. It has been increasingly realized that the lesions responsible for acute events may not necessarily be critically obstructive and hence not be associated with inducible ischemia. Various morphologic features of plaque vulnerability have been described by CT angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and optical coherence tomography. The culprit plaques often demonstrate large plaque and necrotic core volumes, positive vascular remodeling, and attenuation of fibrous plaque caps. The remaining obligatory component of plaque vulnerability is fibrous cap inflammation; molecular imaging is best suited for identification of monocyte–macrophage infiltration. Whereas multiple candidate targets have been evaluated in preclinical molecular imaging studies, only ¹⁸F-FDG and ^99mTc-annexin-A5 have been recently used in the settings of acute vascular events. These 2 imaging strategies have demonstrated the clinical feasibility of imaging for detection of inflammation.

Key Words: atherosclerosis • vulnerable plaque • molecular imaging • inflammation • ¹⁸F-labeled FDG PET • apoptosis • ^99mTc-labeled annexin-A5

FOOTNOTES

COPYRIGHT © 2009 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Inc.

Related articles in JNM:

This Month in JNM

JNM 2009 50: 11A-12A. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. V.G. Bruschke, W. C. Sheldon, E. K. Shirey, and W. L. Proudfit A Half Century of Selective Coronary Arteriography. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., December 1, 2009; 54(23): 2139 - 2144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Dilsizian and J. Narula Putting the Face to a Name: Concurrent Assessment of Vascular Morphology and Biology J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Img., October 1, 2009; 2(10): 1243 - 1244. [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. G. Blankenberg Imaging the Molecular Signatures of Apoptosis and Injury with Radiolabeled Annexin V Proceedings of the ATS, August 15, 2009; 6(5): 469 - 476. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]