RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Imaging Atherosclerosis and Vulnerable Plaque
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 51S
OP 65S
DO 10.2967/jnumed.109.068163
VO 51
IS Supplement 1
A1 Mehran M. Sadeghi
A1 David K. Glover
A1 Gregory M. Lanza
A1 Zahi A. Fayad
A1 Lynne L. Johnson
YR 2010
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/51/Supplement_1/51S.abstract
AB Identifying patients at high risk for an acute cardiovascular event such as myocardial infarction or stroke and assessing the total atherosclerotic burden are clinically important. Currently available imaging modalities can delineate vascular wall anatomy and, with novel probes, target biologic processes important in plaque evolution and plaque stability. Expansion of the vessel wall involving remodeling of the extracellular matrix can be imaged, as can angiogenesis of the vasa vasorum, plaque inflammation, and fibrin deposits on early nonocclusive vascular thrombosis. Several imaging platforms are available for targeted vascular imaging to acquire information on both anatomy and pathobiology in the same imaging session using either hybrid technology (nuclear combined with CT) or MRI combined with novel probes targeting processes identified by molecular biology to be of importance. This article will discuss the current state of the art of these modalities and challenges to clinical translation.