Intracranial-Derived Atherosclerosis Assessment: An In Vitro Comparison between Virtual Histology by Intravascular Ultrasonography, 7T MRI, and Histopathologic Findings

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Atherosclerotic plaque composition and structure contribute to the risk of plaque rupture and embolization. Virtual histology by intravascular ultrasonography and high-resolution MR imaging are new imaging modalities that have been used to characterize plaque morphology and composition in peripheral arteries.

Etiology of intracranial stenosis in young patients: a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging study

“…Evidence from the comparative studies between HRMRI and histology has supported that intracranial eccentric wall lesions represent the pathology of atherosclerosis (7,(9)(10)(11). In this study, a high percentage (80.3%) of Chinese young patients with unilateral MCA stenosis had such eccentric wall lesions on HRMRI.…”

“…Emerging studies have suggested that HRMRI is reliable for detecting intracranial artery wall lesions, consistent with histology findings (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). On HRMRI, eccentric stenosis is suggestive of atherosclerosis while concentric stenosis is suggestive of non-atherosclerotic diseases, although overlap may occasionally exist (3,8,(12)(13)(14).…”

“…In the past decade, the technique of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) has been developed (5)(6)(7)(8). Emerging studies have suggested that HRMRI is reliable for detecting intracranial artery wall lesions, consistent with histology findings (7)(8)(9)(10)(11).…”

Identification and Quantitative Assessment of Different Components of Intracranial Atherosclerotic Plaque by Ex Vivo 3T High-Resolution Multicontrast MRI

“…Only a few histology validation studies have been undertaken at 7T. [15][16][17] The scan parameters of multicontrast MR imaging in this study were close to those in standard protocols used in clinical in vivo studies at 3T, except that this study used higher resolution settings. 9,26 Therefore, the criteria established in this study (Table 1) could be used when assessing images obtained in vivo.…”

“…A few studies have reported ex vivo MR imaging characteristics of intracranial plaque with 7T research scanners. [15][16][17] However, these results cannot be transferred to 3T for the clinical evaluation of intracranial arterial disease because the MR relaxometry is different at 3T and 7T. Very few studies have reported intracranial plaque characteristics at 3T, the highest field strength that is clinically relevant.…”