Symptomatic Carotid Plaques Demonstrate Less Leaky Plaque Microvasculature Compared With the Contralateral Side: A Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Background Rupture of a vulnerable carotid atherosclerotic plaque is an important underlying cause of ischemic stroke. Increased leaky plaque microvasculature may contribute to plaque vulnerability. These immature microvessels may facilitate entrance of inflammatory cells into the plaque.

Microvasculature and intraplaque hemorrhage in atherosclerotic carotid lesions: a cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: The presence of intraplaque haemorrhage (IPH) has been related to plaque rupture, is associated with plaque progression, and predicts cerebrovascular events. However, the mechanisms leading to IPH are not fully understood. The dominant view is that IPH is caused by leakage of erythrocytes from immature microvessels.

Ischemic Stroke Patients Demonstrate Increased Carotid Plaque Microvasculature Compared to (Ocular) Transient Ischemic Attack Patients.

Background: Patients with a recent ischemic stroke have a higher risk of recurrent stroke compared to (ocular) transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients. Plaque microvasculature is considered as a feature of plaque vulnerability and can be quantified with carotid dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the association between plaque microvasculature and the type of recent cerebrovascular events in symptomatic patients with mild-to-moderate carotid stenosis.

Heart rate lowering treatment leads to a reduction in vulnerable plaque features in atherosclerotic rabbits.

Objective: To investigate the effect of a heart rate (HR) lowering agent (Ivabradine) on features of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound imaging, and histology.

Approach And Results: Atherosclerosis was induced in the abdominal aorta of 19 rabbits. Nine rabbits were treated with Ivabradine (17 mg/kg/day) during the entire study period.

Vessel wall and adventitial DCE-MRI parameters demonstrate similar correlations with carotid plaque microvasculature on histology.

Purpose: To assess parameter agreement of volume transfer coefficient (K ) between two vascular regions and to study the correlation with microvessel density on histology. The dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) parameter K is frequently used to study atherosclerotic plaque microvasculature. K has been reported using different descriptive statistics (mean, median, 75 percentile) either for the whole vessel wall or the adventitia in previous studies.

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI to Study Atherosclerotic Plaque Microvasculature.

Rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque of the carotid artery is an important underlying cause of clinical ischemic events, such as stroke. Abundant microvasculature has been identified as an important aspect contributing to plaque vulnerability. Plaque microvasculature can be studied non-invasively with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE-)MRI in animals and patients.

Combined 18F-FDG PET-CT and DCE-MRI to assess inflammation and microvascularization in atherosclerotic plaques.

Background And Purpose: Hallmarks of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques are inflammation that can be assessed with 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, and increased neovascularization that can be evaluated by dynamic contrast-enhanced-MRI. It remains unclear whether these parameters are correlated or represent independent imaging parameters. This study determines whether there is a correlation between inflammation and neovascularization in atherosclerotic carotid plaques.

Suitability of pharmacokinetic models for dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of abdominal aortic aneurysm vessel wall: a comparison.

Purpose: Increased microvascularization of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) vessel wall has been related to AAA progression and rupture. The aim of this study was to compare the suitability of three pharmacokinetic models to describe AAA vessel wall enhancement using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI).

Materials And Methods: Patients with AAA underwent DCE-MRI at 1.