Thermography of the cardiovascular system.
The identification of vulnerable plaque is one of the primary goals in cardiology during the last years. Several techniques have been developed for the anatomic and functional assessment of atherosclerotic plaques. Thermography is a new method for the evaluation of the inflammatory process locally within the atherosclerotic plaque. Several animal and clinical studies demonstrated the value of thermography not only for the detection of inflamed atherosclerotic plaques, but its use in new fields like in the evaluation of inflammation in the coronary vascular bed and the cardiovascular system. This article reviews the developments and the clinical implications of thermography.
Stefanadis
Christodoulos
C
Department of Cardiology, Hippokration Hospital, Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece. cstefan@cc.uoa.gr
Toutouzas
Konstantinos
K
Vaina
Sophia
S
Vavuranakis
Manolis
M
Toutouzas
Pavlos
P
D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy