Quantification of carotid plaque lipid content with magnetic resonance T2 mapping in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy.

Background And Purpose: Techniques to stratify subgroups of patients with asymptomatic carotid artery disease are urgently needed to guide decisions on optimal treatment. Reliance on estimates of % luminal stenosis has not been effective, perhaps because that approach entirely disregards potentially important information on the pathological process in the wall of the artery.

Methods: Since plaque lipid is a key determinant of plaque behaviour we used a newly validated, high-sensitivity T2-mapping MR technique for a systematic survey of the quantity and distribution of plaque lipid in patients undergoing endarterectomy.

Quantification of Lipid-Rich Core in Carotid Atherosclerosis Using Magnetic Resonance T Mapping: Relation to Clinical Presentation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to: 1) provide tissue validation of quantitative T mapping to measure plaque lipid content; and 2) investigate whether this technique could discern differences in plaque characteristics between symptom-related and non-symptom-related carotid plaques.

Background: Noninvasive plaque lipid quantification is appealing both for stratification in treatment selection and as a possible predictor of future plaque rupture. However, current cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) methods are insensitive, require a coalesced mass of lipid core, and rely on multicontrast acquisition with contrast media and extensive post-processing.

Cell-wall properties contributing to improved deconstruction by alkaline pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis in diverse maize (Zea mays L.) lines.

A maize (Zea mays L. subsp. mays) diversity panel consisting of 26 maize lines exhibiting a wide range of cell-wall properties and responses to hydrolysis by cellulolytic enzymes was employed to investigate the relationship between cell-wall properties, cell-wall responses to mild NaOH pre-treatment, and enzymatic hydrolysis yields.

An assessment of between-recti distance and divarication in patients with and without abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Introduction: The study assessed whether there is a greater incidence of divarication of the recti and whether between-recti distance is greater in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Patients And Methods: The study consisted of two parts: a radiological and a clinical assessment. All patients with a confirmed AAA on computerised tomography were included and compared with patients in whom AAA was excluded with imaging.

Spontaneous rupture of the superficial femoral artery treated with endovascular stent-grafting.

Spontaneous rupture of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) is rare. It may occur in the presence of an SFA aneurysm or in a nonaneurysmal, but usually atherosclerotic, artery. Previously these ruptures have been treated by surgical exclusion, often with bypass grafting.