Atherosclerosis and its sequelae have a major impact on morbidity and mortality. The rupture of an inflamed atherosclerotic plaque is a crucial event, since it can result in acute thrombotic closure of an arterial vessel, resulting e. g. in myocardial infarction or stroke. Not only detection of early plaque rupture with imminent closure is therefore of clinical interest, but also timely detecti...

OBJECTIVE Most acute cardiovascular events are caused by rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque. The incidence of cardiovascular events increases with age and inflammation is generally considered to be the main cause of increased plaque vulnerability. However, the relationship between age and plaque inflammation has not yet been fully clarified. The aim of our study was to determine if age-depend...

PURPOSE This study compared the small head Oralgiene 60 Second Time Machine powered toothbrush, used for 60 seconds, with the Braun Oral-B Mickey Mouse powered toothbrush and a manual toothbrush (Oral-B Rugrats 20), each used for 2 minutes, for efficacy in plaque removal and reduction of gingival inflammation in young children. METHODS Fifty-eight children, ages 4 to 5 years old, were randoml...

-Retrospectively, plaque rupture is often colocalized with inflammation of the cap and shoulder of the atherosclerotic plaque. Local inflammation is therefore considered a potential marker for plaque vulnerability. However, high specificity of inflammation for plaque rupture is a requisite for application of inflammation markers to detect rupture-prone lesions. The objective of the present stud...

Objective—This study evaluated effects of lipid lowering with ezetimibe on plaque burden and associated cholesterol crystallization and inflammation in a rabbit model of plaque disruption and thrombosis. Methods and Results—Atherosclerotic rabbits (Group I, n 10 without; Group II, n 12 with ezetimibe, 1 mg/kg per day) were pharmacologically triggered for plaque disruption. Fluorodeoxyglucose po...

Inflammation, Endothelial Permeability, and the Vulnerable Plaque The past 10 to 15 years have witnessed a tremendous interest in developing and validating noninvasive imaging techniques aimed at quantifying features of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability in humans, most notably plaque inflammation. Among these, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with iron oxide nanoparticles has been widely inv...

Inflammation, Endothelial Permeability, and the Vulnerable Plaque The past 10 to 15 years have witnessed a tremendous interest in developing and validating noninvasive imaging techniques aimed at quantifying features of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability in humans, most notably plaque inflammation. Among these, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with iron oxide nanoparticles has been widely inv...

Inflammation is important at many stages of atherosclerotic plaque development. We highlight several imaging modalities that can quantify the degree of plaque inflammation noninvasively. Imaging of this type might allow testing of novel antiatherosclerosis drugs, identification of patients at risk of plaque rupture, and deeper insight into the biology of the disease. The imaging modalities are ...