Optical imaging techniques for vulnerable plaque detection

Multitarget Vulnerable Plaque Imaging.

The search for the vulnerable plaque has been a prolonged, circuitous journey that despite considerable investment and resource expenditure has hitherto failed to alter clinical practice. The rationale remains enticing. We have known for some time that plaques at risk of rupture and precipitating myocardial infarction and stroke have certain characteristics that extend beyond simple stenosis se...

Imaging the vulnerable plaque.

Cardiovascular diseases are still the primary causes of mortality in the United States and in Western Europe. Arterial thrombosis is triggered by a ruptured atherosclerotic plaque and precipitates an acute vascular event, which is responsible for the high mortality rate. These rupture-prone plaques are called "vulnerable plaques." During the past decades, much effort has been put toward accurat...

Imaging atherosclerosis and vulnerable plaque.

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 ...

Imaging of the vulnerable plaque: new modalities.

Atherosclerosis is currently considered to be an inflammatory and thus a systemic disease affecting multiple arterial beds. Recent advances in intravascular imaging have shown multiple sites of atherosclerotic changes in coronary arterial wall. Traditionally, angiography has been used to detect and characterize atherosclerotic plaque in coronary arteries, but recently it has been found that pla...

Imaging of the Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque