Update on diagnostic approach of carotid disease: From stenosis to atherosclerotic plaque morphology

Ex Vivo Study Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Identify Biomarkers of Atherosclerotic Disease in Human Cadaveric Carotid Arteries

“…8 For this reason, it is critical to identify early microstructural changes for diagnosis that might better capture the stage of disease rather than simply geometric features, such as the currently used metric of percent stenosis. 9–11…”

“…8 For this reason, it is critical to identify early microstructural changes for diagnosis that might better capture the stage of disease rather than simply geometric features, such as the currently used metric of percent stenosis. [9][10][11] Many studies have looked to ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to obtain high-resolution images of atherosclerotic microstructure. Multi-contrast MRI protocols, such as proton-density weighted-, T1-, T2-, and diffusion weighted imaging have been implemented with a view to characterising plaque components.…”