Does high-resolution MRI with a 3-dimensional multiple overlapping thin slab angiography protocol allow visualization of fibrous cap thickness and rupture in human atherosclerotic carotid plaque in vivo?
High-resolution MRI can noninvasively distinguish fibrous cap thickness and rupture in human carotid plaques in vivo, enabling future studies on plaque stabilization.
These findings indicate that high-resolution MRI with a 3-dimensional multiple overlapping thin slab angiography protocol is capable of distinguishing intact, thick fibrous caps from intact thin and disrupted caps in atherosclerotic human carotid arteries in vivo. This noninvasive technique has the potential to permit studies that examine the relationship between fibrous cap changes and clinical outcome and to permit trials that evaluate therapy intended to "stabilize" the fibrous cap.
Hatsukami et al. (Tue,) studied this question.