title: Lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques detected by gadofluorine-enhanced in vivo magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  MRI of specific components in atherosclerotic plaque may provide information on plaque stability and its potential to rupture. We evaluated gadofluorine in atherosclerotic rabbits using a new MR sequence that allows plaque detection within 1 hour after injection and assessed enhancement in lipid-rich and non-lipid-rich plaques.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve rabbits with aortic plaque and 6 controls underwent MRI before and up to 24 hours after gadofluorine injection (50 micromol/kg). Two T1-weighted, segmented gradient-echo sequences (TFL) were compared to enhance vessel wall delineation after injection: (1) an inversion-recovery prepulse (IR-TFL) or (2) a combination of inversion-recovery and diffusion-based flow suppression prepulses (IR-DIFF-TFL). With the use of IR-TFL at 1 hour after injection, the vessel wall was not delineated because of poor flow suppression; at 24 hours after injection, the enhancement was 37% (P<0.01). IR-DIFF-TFL showed significant enhancement after versus before contrast (1 hour: 164% [P<0.005]; 24 hours: 207% [P<0.001]). At 1 hour and 24 hours after injection, the contrast-to-noise ratio was higher with the use of IR-DIFF-TFL than with IR-TFL (1 hour: 13.0+/-7.7 versus -19.8+/-10.3 [P<0.001]; 24 hours: 15.2+/-5.9 versus 11.4+/-8.9, respectively [P=0.052]). There was no enhancement in the vessel wall after gadofluorine injection in the control group. A strong correlation was found (r2=0.87; P<0.001) between the lipid-rich areas in histological sections and signal intensity in corresponding MR images. This suggests a high affinity of gadofluorine for lipid-rich plaques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gadofluorine-enhanced MRI improves atherosclerotic plaque detection. The IR-DIFF-TFL method allows early detection of atherosclerotic plaque within 1 hour after gadofluorine injection.
authors.affiliation: Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Cardiovascular Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sirol
authors.forename: Vitalii V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Itskovich
authors.forename: Venkatesh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mani
authors.forename: Juan Gilberto S
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Aguinaldo
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Misselwitz
authors.forename: Hanns-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Weinmann
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fuster
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Toussaint
authors.forename: Zahi A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Fayad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000293:injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects; D003287:Contrast Media; D004036:Diet, Atherogenic; D005355:Fibrosis; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D008055:Lipids; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C477144:gadofluorine