FOCUS: FUNCTIONAL IMAGING - MRI AND PET

DOI

10.1016/j.artres.2013.10.386How to use a DOI?

Abstract

The ground-breaking developments in non-invasive imaging over the last 50 years has provided a range of exciting new tools for physiologists and clinicians interested in large artery structure and function. The main focus of my lecture will be on MRI and PET/CT.

MRI can be used in a number of different ways to provide useful information about large arteries, including: arterial diameter, wall thickness, endothelial function, neovascularization, and the distribution of plaque. However, perhaps the most common is the assessment of vessel stiffness. This can be done by measuring distension waveforms or pulse wave velocity (PWV). Particular advantages of MRI are that measurement sites is not limited by anatomy, and accurate path lengths can be obtained for PWV estimation. However, temporal resolution is limited, which means that most waveforms are a composite average over several heartbeats or minutes. Nevertheless, MRI has provided useful information about regional age-related changes in structure and stiffness within the aorta.

A number of PET ligands are in clinical use, the most common being FDG. Uptake depends on metabolic activity, which is often used as a surrogate of inflammation. FDG PET/CT can aid the diagnosis of vasculitis and response to anti-inflammatory therapy. Emerging data suggests that chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and COPD are associated with aortic inflammation, which may explain why they are also associated with increased, but reversible aortic stiffening. Other potentially interesting ligands are NaF (calcium), and FMISO (hypoxia).

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ian Wilkinson
PY  - 2013
DA  - 2013/11/11
TI  - FOCUS: FUNCTIONAL IMAGING - MRI AND PET
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 110
EP  - 110
VL  - 7
IS  - 3-4
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2013.10.386
DO  - 10.1016/j.artres.2013.10.386
ID  - Wilkinson2013
ER  -