18 Dec 19. Featured Paper

Non-invasive imaging of high-risk coronary plaque: the role of computed tomography & positron emission tomography.

Link to paper on The British Journal of Radiology

 

Authors

Rong Bing, Krithika Loganath, Philip Adamson, David Newby & Alastair Moss.

 

Abstract

Despite recent advances, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally.

As such, there is a need to optimise our current diagnostic & risk stratification pathways in order to better deliver individualised preventative therapies.

Non-invasive imaging of coronary artery plaque can interrogate multiple aspects of coronary atherosclerotic disease, including plaque morphology, anatomy & flow.

More recently, disease activity is being assessed to provide mechanistic insights into in vivo atherosclerosis biology.

Molecular imaging using positron emission tomography is unique in this field, with the potential to identify specific biological processes using either bespoke or re-purposed radiotracers.

This review provides an overview of non-invasive vulnerable plaque detection & molecular imaging of coronary atherosclerosis.