How to Look Closely to Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaques Using Nanoparticles

Abstract

The cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been for several years the worldwide leading cause of death, including acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and stroke. In most cases, ACS result from erosion or rupture of a non-stenotic atherosclerotic plaques, the so called vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Although our knowledge about plaque vulnerability has increased over the last few years, our ability to predict the time of a future event is still highly insufficient. Different imaging technologies have been evolving to visualize various features of vulnerable plaques, though there is yet no single technique that has unequivocally demonstrated the capability to accurately predict plaque rupture in patients. Despite the great approaches for morphological imaging of atherosclerotic plaques, the need for a molecular profile of an atheroma clearly emerges. In this short review we pretend to discuss the most commonly used diagnostic tools in CHD and how the combination with nanoparticles can bring these approaches to the molecular imaging level. We highlight the approaches with higher technology readiness level from invasive and non-invasive imaging approaches.