Zhao Xue-Qiao, Kerwin William S
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
Clin Lipidol. 2012 Jun;7(3):329-343. doi: 10.2217/clp.12.33.
Lipid abnormalities play important roles in the development of atherosclerosis. Lipid therapies result in alterations in atherosclerotic plaques including halting of progression of the plaque, lipid transport out of the plaque and reducing inflammatory activity, which lead to plaque morphologies that are less prone to disruption, the main cause of clinical events. In order to investigate and monitor plaque morphological changes during lipid therapy in vivo we need an imaging method that can provide accurate assessment of plaque tissue components and activity. MRI of atherosclerosis has been validated as a reliable assessment of the size of the vessel lumen, but also the size of the plaque, its tissue composition and plaque activity, including inflammation. The purpose of this review is to summarize the state of evidence for the direct assessment of atherosclerotic plaque and its change by MRI, and to establish the proven role of MRI of atherosclerosis in pharmaceutical trials with lipid therapy.
脂质异常在动脉粥样硬化的发展过程中起着重要作用。脂质治疗会导致动脉粥样硬化斑块发生改变，包括阻止斑块进展、使脂质从斑块中转运出来以及降低炎症活性，这些改变会使斑块形态更不易破裂，而斑块破裂是临床事件的主要原因。为了在体内脂质治疗期间研究和监测斑块形态变化，我们需要一种能够准确评估斑块组织成分和活性的成像方法。动脉粥样硬化的磁共振成像（MRI）已被证实是一种可靠的评估方法，它不仅可以评估血管腔的大小，还能评估斑块的大小、其组织成分以及斑块活性，包括炎症情况。本综述的目的是总结通过MRI直接评估动脉粥样硬化斑块及其变化的证据状况，并确立动脉粥样硬化MRI在脂质治疗药物试验中的已证实作用。
