OAK BROOK, Ill. — Noninvasive imaging of
carotid artery plaque with MRI can accurately predict future cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks in people without a history of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
The drug, while lowering cholesterol effectively, failed to slow the progression of
carotid artery plaque.
Noninvasive imaging of
carotid artery plaque with MRI can accurately predict future cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks in people without a history of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
Novel 3D vascular ultrasound imaging technology allowed researchers to quantify the amount of
carotid artery plaque burden lining each patient's carotid arteries in their neck, while a coronary artery calcium score CT scan allowed for the identification of any narrowing or hardening of the coronary arteries due to the buildup of fatty cholesterol and calcified plaque.
Not exact matches
When Tobias Erlöv, who at the time was a doctoral student in biomedical engineering at the Lund Faculty of Engineering, discovered that there is a fairly simple mathematical calculation that can be used to interpret ultrasound signals and thereby figure out whether the
plaque in the
carotid artery is harmful or not, the researchers were somewhat surprised.
The study shows those apparently healthy individuals identified with increased
carotid plaque burden and coronary
artery calcium were two to three times more likely to have an adverse event such as an
artery blockage, or a piece of
plaque becoming loose causing a heart attack or stroke.
Although all the firefighters were without cardiovascular symptoms, the researchers found that two - thirds of the participants (33 of 50) had
carotid plaque and / or thickening of the
carotid artery greater than levels in the 75th percentile of values known to reflect risk.
Strokes often result when accumulated
plaque breaks off from a narrowed section of an internal
carotid artery and blocks smaller vessels in the brain.
* An ultrasound test of the
carotid (neck)
arteries to measure thickness of the lining of the
arteries, as well look for presence of
plaque.
Leeper's team analyzed samples of arterial
plaque from people undergoing surgery for a clogged
carotid artery and from organ donors without cardiovascular disease.
To study the predictive value of MRI
plaque imaging, researchers performed
carotid artery ultrasound and MRI on 946 asymptomatic patients from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
In an investigation of the effects of bergamot on atherosclerosis in
carotid arteries in a clinical setting, just six months of therapy reduced measures of
plaque in these important
arteries compared to placebo.
Researchers at Wake Forest University followed 1,000 people for five years, and measured the amount of
plaque in their
carotid arteries.
In men, as noted above, DHEA is a 5AR agonist, thus promoting conversion of testosterone to DHT, and has also been shown to exert anti-atherogenic effects; higher serum levels of DHEA - S correlate inversely with
carotid artery intima - media thickness,
plaque and blood flow volume.94
Despite never having a
carotid ultrasound or similar test, I have little doubt that more than three decades of eating a SAD (standard American diet) has left me with a bit of
plaque in my
arteries, and the Ornish diet is supposed to reverse atherosclerosis.
This is the thickness of the inner wall of their
carotid arteries, where the atherosclerotic
plaque builds up — considered a predictor of «all - cause and cardiovascular mortality.»
I have mild
plaque in my
carotid arteries with no narrowing.
A CIMT ultrasound found
plaque in one
carotid artery so I was very concerned.
Researchers found that 3 eggs per week significantly increased arterial
plaque formation in
carotid arteries, significantly elevating the risk for hypertension, stroke and heart attack (5).
They also found
plaque deposits in the
carotid artery of 18 percent of the women who had not breast - fed and 10 percent of those who had.
Researchers found that those women who had not breast - fed were much more likely to have calcification or
plaque in their coronary
artery, aorta and
carotid artery.