Cardiology Dep., Ospedale San Giovanni, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Atherosclerosis. 2012 Sep;224(1):25-36. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2012.04.007. Epub 2012 May 8.
Atherosclerosis is a systemic and multifocal disease, which starts early in life, and that usually takes decades before overt disease eventually appears as a consequence of progressive obstruction or abrupt thrombotic occlusion. This silent course makes necessary to develop predictors of disease long before symptomatic lesions develop. Besides several classical risk factors and new emerging humoral risk predictors, imaging may constitute a formidable diagnostic and prognostic tool in order to identify presence, extension, progression (or regression) of disease as well as vulnerability of atherosclerotic lesions. This review summarizes the rapidly growing clinical and research field in imaging atherosclerosis from different perspectives opening important opportunities for timely detection and treatment of atherosclerosis.
动脉粥样硬化是一种全身性、多灶性疾病，早在生命早期就开始发生，通常需要数十年的时间，直到明显的疾病最终出现，表现为进行性阻塞或突然血栓闭塞。这种隐匿的病程使得有必要在有症状病变出现之前，很早预测疾病的发生。除了一些经典的危险因素和新出现的体液危险因素预测因子外，影像学可能是一种强大的诊断和预后工具，可以识别疾病的存在、程度、进展（或消退）以及动脉粥样硬化病变的易损性。这篇综述从不同角度总结了影像学在动脉粥样硬化研究中的快速发展，为及时发现和治疗动脉粥样硬化提供了重要机会。
