Background The differentiation of atherosclerotic plaque components in the carotid arteries with MRI has been successfully demonstrated. The detection of plaque calcification by MRI, however has been challenging. In addition, few studies have evaluated the ability of MRI to characterize atherosclerotic plaques in human coronary arteries (1). Here we use a combination of T1, T2 and ultrashort TE...

Atherosclerotic plaque rupture and progression have been the focus of intensive investigations in recent years. Plaque rupture is closely related to most severe cardiovascular syndromes such as heart attack and stroke. A computational procedure based on meshless generalized finite difference (MGFD) method and serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was introduced to quantify patient-specif...

In the 1990s, significant efforts and investments were made in the development of imaging technologies with the objective of visualizing and characterizing the atherosclerotic plaque. Although angiography still is the indisputable first choice for the clinical diagnosis of coronary artery luminal narrowing, new imaging modalities are likely to stay to provide surrogate markers for disease progr...

Noninvasive direct vessel wall (plaque) imaging may provide a good opportunity to study unique aspects of atherosclerotic lesions in different populations. The article published by Esposito et al. provides new insights into our understanding of diabetic atherosclerotic vascular disease by using direct plaque imaging techniques. The findings from this article call for attention to more in vivo i...

Atherosclerotic alterations of the internal carotid artery frequently result in ischemic stroke. However, it remains unclear which specific factor mainly causes an increased risk of stroke. Constant improvements of the diagnostic possibilities of ultrasonic examinations provide increasingly profound insight into plaque alterations. If "risk plaque" could be reliably identified, the therapeutic ...

See related article, pages 2507–2516 Atherosclerosis remains a major cause of death in industrialized countries. Our understanding of the natural course of the disease and of the effects of intervention is mainly based on autopsy studies and on studies in animal models. This has primarily been because of the lack of good tools to image plaque components in vivo. Indeed, even in animal studies, ...

Atherectomy is a procedure which is performed to remove atherosclerotic plaque from diseased arteries. Atherosclerotic plaques are localized in either coronary or peripheral arterial vasculature and may have different characteristics depending on the texture of the plaque. Atherectomy has been used effectively in treatment of both coronary and peripheral arterial disease. Atherectomy devices ar...

See related article, pages 2507–2516 Atherosclerosis remains a major cause of death in industrialized countries. Our understanding of the natural course of the disease and of the effects of intervention is mainly based on autopsy studies and on studies in animal models. This has primarily been because of the lack of good tools to image plaque components in vivo. Indeed, even in animal studies, ...