September 1, 2009 - Evaluation of results of a multicenter study indicates that quantitative evaluation of the progression of volume of extracranial carotid vessel walls is feasible with 1.5T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, despite limitations due to patient motion or habitus.

In the study, Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression in Carotid Arteries: Monitoring with High-Spatial-Resolution MR Imaging — Multicenter Trial, researchers set out to estimate the annualized rate of progression of vessel-wall volume in the carotid arteries in 160 patients by using MR imaging and to establish the fraction of studies that have acceptable image quality.

One hundred sixty patients with greater than 50 percent narrowing of the diameter of the carotid artery were recruited at six centers for prospective imaging of the carotid arteries at baseline and one year later by using high-spatial-resolution, 1.5T MR imaging. Quantitative changes in atheroma volume were measured on unenhanced T1-weighted images. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to correlate progression with several clinical factors, including statin therapy.

All 160 patients completed both baseline and follow-up studies. Of these studies, 67.5 percent were deemed to have image quality that was acceptable for quantitative analysis. The causes of rejection were motion (46 percent), deep location of the carotid artery (22 percent), low bifurcation of the carotid artery (13 percent), and “other” (19 percent). The mean annual change in vessel-wall volume was 2.31 percent. At one-year follow-up, vessel-wall volumes in patients not receiving statin therapy had increased faster compared with those in patients receiving statin therapy: 7.87 percent, plus/minus 13.58 percent vs 1.14 percent, plus/minus 9.9 percent, respectively.

Researchers found that in patients who had preexisting carotid disease, the rate of increase in vessel-wall volume was slower in patients receiving statin therapy.

Reference: Boussel Lo?c, MD, PhD., et al. Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression in Carotid Arteries: Monitoring with High-Spatial-Resolution MR Imaging—Multicenter Trial. Radiology: Volume 252: Number 3—September 2009. radiology.rsnajnls.org.

For more information: www.rsna.org


Related Content

News | PET-CT

GE HealthCare’s commitment to advancing precision care in cardiology through its molecular imaging solutions will be on ...

Time June 23, 2025
arrow
News | Cardiac Imaging

May 20, 2025 — Royal Philips has launched the RADIQAL (Radiation Dose and Image Quality Trial) trial. This multicenter ...

Time May 27, 2025
arrow
News | Pediatric Imaging

May 13, 2025-- GE HealthCare recently announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a pediatric ...

Time May 20, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

April 16, 2025 — An artificial intelligence (AI) program trained to review images from a common medical test can detect ...

Time April 16, 2025
arrow
News | Pediatric Imaging

April 10, 2025 — Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare will form a strategic research program focused on driving ...

Time April 10, 2025
arrow
News | Radiology Imaging

Jan. 15, 2025 — University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging and GE ...

Time January 27, 2025
arrow
News | Contrast Media

Jan. 10, 2025 – Bayer has announced positive topline results of the Phase III QUANTI studies evaluating the efficacy and ...

Time January 14, 2025
arrow
News | Women's Health

Aug. 19, 2024 — GE HealthCare recently announced a collaboration with the University of California San Diego School of ...

Time August 29, 2024
arrow
News | Radiology Business

July 25, 2024 — Immunis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotech developing groundbreaking secretome therapeutics for age and ...

Time July 25, 2024
arrow
News | PET-CT

July 25, 2024 — Positron Corporation, a leading molecular imaging medical device company offering PET & PET-CT imaging ...

Time July 25, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now