title: Spectroscopy to improve identification of vulnerable plaques in cardiovascular disease.
abstract: Many apparent healthy persons die from cardiovascular disease, despite major advances in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors are able to predict cardiovascular events in the long run, but fail to assess current disease activity or nearby cardiovascular events. There is a clear relation between the occurrence of cardiovascular events and the presence of so-called vulnerable plaques. These vulnerable plaques are characterized by active inflammation, a thin cap and a large lipid pool. Spectroscopy is an optical imaging technique which depicts the interaction between light and tissues, and thereby shows the biochemical composition of tissues. In recent years, impressive advances have been made in spectroscopy technology and intravascular spectroscopy is able to assess the composition of plaques of interest and thereby to identify and actually quantify plaque vulnerability. This review summarizes the current evidence for spectroscopy as a measure of plaque vulnerability and discusses the potential role of intravascular spectroscopic imaging techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Janneke L M
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bruggink
authors.forename: Robbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meerwaldt
authors.forename: Gooitzen M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: van Dam
authors.forename: Joop D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lefrandt
authors.forename: Riemer H J A
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Slart
authors.forename: René A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Tio
authors.forename: Andries J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: Clark J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zeebregts
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012421:Rupture; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman