Begona Lavin Plaza1, Alkystis Phinikaridou1, Marcelo Andia2, Silvia Lorrio Gonzalez1, and Rene Botnar1
Despite
the beneficial effect of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and
stent implantation, negative vascular remodeling remains as one of the most
important complications of interventional cardiology. These procedures may damage
the vessel wall, particularly the endothelium, leading to a dysfunctional state
characterized by impaired vasodilation, increased leukocyte adhesion and
permeability that constitute the initial steps of atherosclerosis. The arterial
tree can be divided in either “athero-susceptible” areas, e.g. arterial
branches and curvatures, where blood flow is turbulent and shear stress is
multidirectional or “athero-resistant” areas, e.g. abdominal aorta, where blood
flow is laminar and shear stress is low. In this study, we investigated (1)
whether an “atherosclerotic-resistant” segment of the vascular tree, like the
aorta, can be switched into an “atherosclerotic-susceptible” area following
endothelial injury and (2) whether such a switch in vessel wall remodeling is
associated with changes in vascular permeability that can be assessed in-vivo using the albumin binding MR
contrast agent, gadofosveset.
