Tissue characterization of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability by nuclearmagnetic resonance

Developing imaging technologies capable of identifying unstable atheromatou s plaques in vivo is a major issue of clinical cardiovascular research. The se techniques would permit an earlier surgical or medical therapy and would anticipate acute ischemic syndromes. Plaque vulnerability depends on the r elative amount and thickness of its lipid core and fibrous cap. Several mea ns of assessing atherosclerotic plaque composition have been used with nucl ear magnetic resonance (NMR): carbon-13 and proton spectroscopy, proton ima ging, chemical shift imaging, water diffusion imaging, and magnetization tr ansfer. Recent data have shown that MR allows for accurate in vivo diagnosi s and may support large scale prevention studies.