The effects of statin therapy on carotid plaque composition and volume: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Purpose: Prior studies have demonstrated that statin use stabilizes and diminishes atherosclerotic lesions. The main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to study the effects of statin therapy on carotid plaque composition as seen on serial high-resolution carotid plaque MRI. We hypothesized that statin therapy would result in significant improvements in lipid-rich-necrotic-core (LRNC) volumes, wall volumes and lumen volumes.

Sample size calculation for clinical trials using magnetic resonance imaging for the quantitative assessment of carotid atherosclerosis.

Purpose: To provide sample size calculation for the quantitative assessment of carotid atherosclerotic plaque using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging in multi-center clinical trials. METHODS. As part of a broader double-blind randomized trial of an experimental pharmaceutical agent, 20 asymptomatic placebo-control subjects were recruited from 5 clinical sites for a multi-center study.

Feasibility of in vivo, multicontrast-weighted MR imaging of carotid atherosclerosis for multicenter studies.

Purpose: To test the image quality (ImQ) and interscan coverage of MRI for measuring carotid atherosclerosis across multiple centers.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-nine subjects from five clinical sites (site 1: n=11; site 2: n=16; site 3: n=2; site 4: n=3; site 5: n=7) were imaged on GE 1.5T scanners using a standardized carotid imaging protocol with five weightings (T1, proton density (PD), T2, time-of-flight (TOF), and contrast-enhanced (CE) T1).