How accurate is atherosclerosis imaging by coronary computed tomography angiography?

Invasive coronary plaque imaging such as intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography has been widely used to observe culprit or non-culprit coronary atherosclerosis, as well as optimize stent sizing, apposition and deployment. Coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is non-invasively available to assess coronary artery disease (CAD) and has become an appropriate strategy to evaluate patients with suspected CAD. Given recent technologies, semi-automated plaque software is available to identify coronary plaque stenosis, volume and characteristics and potentially allows to be used for the assessment of more details of plaque information, progression and future risk as a surrogate tool of the invasive imaging modalities. This review article aims to focus on various evidence in coronary plaque imaging by coronary CTA and describes how accurate coronary CTA can classify coronary atherosclerosis.     

前循环缺血性卒中老年患者颈动脉斑块及其稳定性与血流壁切应力的关系

目的通过探讨前循环缺血性卒中老年患者颈总动脉分叉处血流壁切应力的水平分析其在颈动脉斑块形成过程中的影响。方法本研究选择前循环缺血性卒中老年患者,应用经皮血管彩超测量颈动脉斑块及其稳定性以及对研究对象测量患侧颈动脉血流速度、血管内径和血液粘滞度,通过公式计算血流壁切应力。结果无斑块组和有斑块组之间、高回声和低回声斑块组之间血流壁切应力均有显著性差异(P<0．01)。结论血流壁低切应力促进颈动脉斑块、尤其是不稳定斑块的形成。     

高分辨MRI对颈动脉粥样硬化斑块成分显示的病理对照研究

目的分析和评价高分辨MRI对颈动脉粥样硬化斑块不同成分的显示效果,为颈动脉内膜切除术术前判断斑块稳定性提供参考。方法对26例行颈动脉内膜切除术的颈动脉粥样硬化性狭窄患者术前高分辨MRI 4种不同序列的影像(T1WI、T2WI、PDWI和3D TOF)与斑块标本病理进行逐层对照,分析斑块内不同成分的MRI影像特点。结果获得斑块28块,切为238段,主要分布于颈总动脉和颈内动脉,以复杂斑块为特征的Ⅳ～Ⅴ型58段(24.37%)和Ⅵ型79段(33.19%)为主;斑块内纤维帽主要表现为TOF序列的带状低信号,钙化和纤维化组织分别表现为在各序列影像上的不规则低信号和不特定信号,脂质池和坏死核呈T1WI、PDWI和3D TOF序列的等至稍高信号,近期出血表现为T1WI、T2WI和PDWI序列的明显高信号。结论高分辨MRI不仅可以清晰显示动脉粥样硬化斑块,进行动脉管腔狭窄程度的测定,通过多序列影像联合分析还可以分辨斑块内部不同成分,有助于术前对斑块稳定性的判断。     

ApoE-/-小鼠肾动脉粥样硬化斑块破裂的肾损害

目的 探讨ApoE^-/-小鼠肾动脉粥样硬化斑块破裂对下游肾脏的损伤机制。 方法 采用ApoE^-/-小鼠建立粥样硬化性肾动脉狭窄(ARAS)动物模型。选择肾动脉狭窄程度 <50％的ApoE^-/-小鼠，按斑块分为破裂组和未破裂组；选择同条件喂养的C57BL/6J 野生型小鼠为对照组。常规检测Scr及尿 N-乙酰-β-氨基葡萄糖苷酶(NAG)活性；Western印迹检测细胞核中核转录因子κBp65（NF-κBp65）、细胞间黏附分子1（ICAM-1）及P-选择素（P-sel）表达； RT-PCR检测白细胞介素6 （IL-6）mRNA表达；免疫组化染色检测巨噬细胞浸润情况。 结果破裂组Scr和尿NAG活性明显升高（均P < 0.01）；肾组织出现病理改变，肾间质中巨噬细胞浸润增加（P < 0.05）；细胞核中NF-κBp65表达增加（P < 0.05）；ICAM-1、P-sel、IL-6 mRNA表达增加（P < 0.05）。未破裂组上述指标与对照组比较，差异无统计学意义（P > 0.05）；肾脏未见明显病理改变。 结论 肾动脉粥样硬化斑块破裂可引起肾脏病理改变和肾功能受损；在粥样硬化性肾动脉狭窄的肾损害机制中，炎性反应是重要因素之一。     

雷公藤挥发油对小鼠免疫功能的影响

观察雷公藤挥发油对小鼠免疫功能的影响,发现给药1周后,其可减少脾脏有核细胞数,减少 PFC 和 RFC 数目,抑制脾细胞对 ConA 诱导 T 细胞增殖的反应性,减轻DTH。这说明雷公藤挥发油对小鼠体液免疫和细胞免疫均有明显的抑制作用。     

Mechanical Analysis of Atherosclerotic Plaques Based on Optical Coherence Tomography

Finite element analysis is a powerful tool for investigating the biomechanics of atherosclerosis and has thereby provided an improved understanding of acute myocardial infarction. Structural analysis of arterial walls is traditionally performed using geometry contours derived from histology. In this paper we demonstrate the first use of a new imaging technique, optical coherence tomography (OCT), as a basis for finite element analysis. There are two primary benefits of OCT relative to histology: 1) imaging is performed without excessive tissue handling, providing a more realistic geometry than histology and avoiding structural artifacts common to histologic processing, and 2) OCT imaging can be performed in vivo, making it possible to study disease progression and the effect of therapeutic treatments in animal models and living patients. Patterns of mechanical stress and strain distributions computed from finite element analysis based on OCT were compared with those from modeling based on "gold standard" histology. Our results indicate that vascular structure and composition determined by OCT provides an adequate basis for investigating the biomechanical factors relevant to atherosclerosis and acute myocardial infarction.     

3D MRI-Based Multicomponent FSI Models for Atherosclerotic Plaques

A three-dimensional (3D) MRI-based computational model with multicomponent plaque structure and fluid-structure interactions (FSI) is introduced to perform mechanical analysis for human atherosclerotic plaques and identify critical flow and stress/strain conditions which may be related to plaque rupture. Three-dimensional geometry of a human carotid plaque was reconstructed from 3D MR images and computational mesh was generated using Visualization Toolkit. Both the artery wall and the plaque components were assumed to be hyperelastic, isotropic, incompressible, and homogeneous. The flow was assumed to be laminar, Newtonian, viscous, and incompressible. The fully coupled fluid and structure models were solved by ADINA, a well-tested finite element package. Results from two-dimensional (2D) and 3D models, based on ex vivo MRI and histological images (HI), with different component sizes and plaque cap thickness, under different pressure and axial stretch conditions, were obtained and compared. Our results indicate that large lipid pools and thin plaque caps are associated with both extreme maximum (stretch) and minimum (compression when negative) stress/strain levels. Large cyclic stress/strain variations in the plaque under pulsating pressure were observed which may lead to artery fatigue and possible plaque rupture. Large-scale patient studies are needed to validate the computational findings for possible plaque vulnerability assessment and rupture predictions.