Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, 18 Stuart Street, K7L 3N6, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Imaging Network at Queen's University, 76 Stuart Street, K7L 2V7, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Atherosclerosis. 2021 Feb;319:42-50. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.12.021. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease that can lead to several complications such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Therefore, researchers and clinicians rely heavily on the use of imaging modalities to identify, and more recently, quantify the burden of atherosclerosis in the aorta, carotid arteries, coronary arteries, and peripheral vasculature. These imaging techniques vary in invasiveness, cost, resolution, radiation exposure, and presence of artifacts. Consequently, a detailed understanding of the risks and benefits of each technique is crucial prior to their introduction into routine cardiovascular screening. Additionally, recent research in the field of microvascular imaging has proven to be important in the field of atherosclerosis. Using techniques such as contrast-enhanced ultrasound and superb microvascular imaging, researchers have been able to detect blood vessels within a plaque lesion that may contribute to vulnerability and rupture. This paper will review the strengths and weaknesses of the various imaging techniques used to measure atherosclerotic burden. Furthermore, it will discuss the future of advanced imaging modalities as potential biomarkers for atherosclerosis.
动脉粥样硬化是一种炎症性疾病，可导致多种并发症，如缺血性心脏病、中风和外周血管疾病。因此，研究人员和临床医生高度依赖影像学手段来识别，最近还依赖影像学手段来定量评估主动脉、颈动脉、冠状动脉和外周血管的动脉粥样硬化负担。这些影像学技术在侵袭性、成本、分辨率、辐射暴露和伪影存在方面存在差异。因此，在将这些技术引入常规心血管筛查之前，详细了解每种技术的风险和益处至关重要。此外，微血管成像领域的最新研究已被证明在外周血管成像领域很重要。研究人员使用对比增强超声和超微血流成像等技术，已经能够检测斑块病变内可能导致易损性和破裂的血管。本文将回顾用于测量动脉粥样硬化负担的各种影像学技术的优缺点。此外，本文还将讨论高级影像学模式作为动脉粥样硬化潜在生物标志物的未来发展。
