Abstract #1954

Abbott C, Radjenovic A, Chapman Y, Rhodes L, Dellagrammaticas D, Tanner S, Gough M, Ridgway J

Inflammation is thought to be a factor associated with plaque instability. Contrast enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) has the potential to detect inflammation and may therefore be capable of identifying patients at risk of thromboembolic complications arising from plaque disruption. This study has compared CE-MRI measurements of atheromatous plaques with histological assessment of plaque stability. The results show relatively high levels of enhancement within the unstable carotid plaque indicating that the CE-MRI technique may be of use in non-invasive patient studies assessing plaque stability.