Evaluating the diagnostic value of multi-detector brain CT angiography in diagnosing acute cerebral venous thrombosis.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare type of venous thromboembolism mostly affecting young adults. Despite improved imaging studies, the diagnosis is usually delayed by several days. An average diagnostic delay of seven days from the onset of symptoms is still reported for this condition, and it is crucial for radiologists to detect this potentially lethal condition in routine imaging studies.

Targeted Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Atherosclerosis: Clinical and Intracoronary Evaluation of Indocyanine Green.

Objectives: This study sought to determine whether indocyanine green (ICG)-enhanced near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging can illuminate high-risk histologic plaque features of human carotid atherosclerosis, and in coronary atheroma of living swine, using intravascular NIRF-optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

Background: New translatable imaging approaches are needed to identify high-risk biological signatures of atheroma. ICG is a U.

Clinical Characterization of Coronary Atherosclerosis With Dual-Modality OCT and Near-Infrared Autofluorescence Imaging.

Objectives: The authors present the clinical imaging of human coronary arteries in vivo using a multimodality optical coherence tomography (OCT) and near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF) intravascular imaging system and catheter.

Background: Although intravascular OCT is capable of providing microstructural images of coronary atherosclerotic lesions, it is limited in its capability to ascertain the compositional/molecular features of plaque. A recent study in cadaver coronary plaque showed that endogenous NIRAF is elevated in necrotic core lesions.

Ex vivo catheter-based imaging of coronary atherosclerosis using multimodality OCT and NIRAF excited at 633 nm.

While optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been shown to be capable of imaging coronary plaque microstructure, additional chemical/molecular information may be needed in order to determine which lesions are at risk of causing an acute coronary event. In this study, we used a recently developed imaging system and double-clad fiber (DCF) catheter capable of simultaneously acquiring both OCT and red excited near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF) images (excitation: 633 nm, emission: 680nm to 900nm). We found that NIRAF is elevated in lesions that contain necrotic core - a feature that is critical for vulnerable plaque diagnosis and that is not readily discriminated by OCT alone.

Optical coherence tomography--near infrared spectroscopy system and catheter for intravascular imaging.

Owing to its superior resolution, intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) is a promising tool for imaging the microstructure of coronary artery walls. However, IVOCT does not identify chemicals and molecules in the tissue, which is required for a more complete understanding and accurate diagnosis of coronary disease. Here we present a dual-modality imaging system and catheter that uniquely combines IVOCT with diffuse near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in a single dual-modality imaging device for simultaneous acquisition of microstructural and compositional information.