Abstract #1301

3D Inversion Recovery Fast Spoiled Gradient Recall (IR-FSPGR) and TOF MRA with Morphology Enhanced Probabilistic Plaque Segmentation (MEPPS) Predicts the Size of Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core of Carotid Plaque

J. Kevin DeMarco¹, Hideki Ota², David Zhu¹, William Kerwin³, Chun Yuan³

¹Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States; ²Diagnostic Radiology, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan; ³University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States

The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of automated segmentation of two non-contrast MR sequences to predict the size of necrotic-core identified by manual segmentation of multi-contrast carotid plaque MRI. Forty-eight arteries from 26 consecutive patients were analyzed. Automated segmentation identified all 16 carotid plaques harboring moderate/large necrotic-core with 6 additional false positive studies and excluded 54% of the carotid arteries as not having significant necrotic core. The addition of 3D IR-FSPGR to clinical MRA evaluation of carotid stenosis could help identify patients potentially harboring moderate/large necrotic-core who might be candidates for new aggressive lipid-lowering therapies.