Hammad Basma, Evans Nicholas R, Rudd James H F, Tawakol Ahmed
Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
J Nucl Cardiol. 2017 Jun;24(3):938-943. doi: 10.1007/s12350-016-0766-y. Epub 2017 Jan 11.
Atherosclerotic diseases account for nearly half of all deaths and are leading causes of adult disability. Our understanding of how atherosclerosis leads to cardiovascular disease events has evolved: from a concept of progressive luminal narrowing, to that of sudden rupture and thrombosis of biologically active atheroma. In concert with this conceptual shift, contemporary imaging techniques now allow imaging of biological processes that associate with plaque instability: active calcification and plaque inflammation. This review focuses on opportunities provided by positron emission tomography/computed tomography, to identify these high-risk biological features of atherosclerosis.
动脉粥样硬化性疾病占所有死亡人数的近一半，是成人残疾的主要原因。我们对动脉粥样硬化如何导致心血管疾病事件的理解已经发生了演变：从渐进性管腔狭窄的概念，发展到具有生物活性的动脉粥样硬化斑块突然破裂和血栓形成的概念。与这一概念转变相一致的是，当代成像技术现在能够对与斑块不稳定相关的生物过程进行成像：活性钙化和斑块炎症。本综述重点关注正电子发射断层扫描/计算机断层扫描所提供的机会，以识别动脉粥样硬化的这些高危生物学特征。
