Alkystis Phinikaridou1, Christopher Sucato1,
Stephan Anderson2, James A. Hamilton1
1Physiology & Biophysics, Boston
University, Boston, MA, United States; 2Radiology, Boston
University, Boston, MA, United States
We
used a rabbit model of controlled atherothrombosis to test whether in vivo
MRI can distinguish between plaques that disrupt after pharmacological
triggering (vulnerable) and those that do not (stable). We employed in vivo
dynamic contrast enhanced MRI to study the contrast kinetics of gadolinium
(Gd-DTPA) in a quantitative manner, which could help to understand the
mechanism of gadolinium uptake and derive standardized criteria that could
permit a differentiation of stable from vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques.
Keywords