MR Microscopy of the Rat Carotid Artery after Balloon Injury by Using an Implanted Imaging Coil

Neointimal hyperplasia after angioplasty was followed in vivo in rats by using MR microscopy and surgically implanted RF imaging coils. By using an inductively coupled pick-up coil, the arteries were imaged 4 days before and 3, 7, and 14 days after angioplasty with a 3DFT spin echo sequence. Eight of 10 angioplastied rats showed moderate to severe stensois based MR measures of lumen diameter reduction from baseline images. There was a good correlation between total wall thickness between MR and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections obtained on the last day. Arteries in the intact and sham groups remained unchanged from baseline measurements. Because this imaging technique examines the artery under in vivo conditions of arterial pressure and flow, it promises to be a useful tool for evaluating pharmacological and mechanical methods of reducing the incidence of vascular stenosis.