Study To Evaluate the reproducibility of non-invasive Plaque lipid content measurements in-vivo in humans, by means of magnetic resonance Spectroscopy.

Atherosclerosis is a protracted and in fact lifelong progressive disease. Over
time, lipids accumulate in the artery wall forming fatty streaks, which
eventually can develop into atherosclerotic plaques1. The transformation of a
quiescent atherosclerotic plaque to an active plaque leads to acute vascular
events, such as myocardial infarction and stroke1.
In an attempt to gear down the pandemic of cardiovascular disease, much effort
has been put in the development of novel cardiovascular drugs, with the main
focus on prevention. In the development of preventive pharmacotherapy, Low
Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering drugs played a pivotal role.
The hypothesis that serum lipid lowering results in decrease of lipid
accumulation in the arterial wall and thus atherogenesis, has formed the basis
for this drug developing strategy1, 2.
To draw valid conclusions about the determinants of the effectiveness of lipid
altering therapeutic interventions, imaging of atherosclerosis can be used as a
surrogate marker for the assessment of efficacy of a novel compound3.
Although imaging arterial wall dimensions by B-mode ultrasound, intravascular
ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging have proved to be of great use, the
effects of cardiovascular drugs on vascular wall composition remains unclear.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive imaging modality that
gives a spectrum of resonances, affording detection of specific chemical
components through their inherent frequency shift relative to water4. In image
guided MRS, an MR image can be utilized to image and localize a plaque. Proton
spectra can then be collected from these plaques, such that the specific proton
resonances of lipid components in a mobile state, including cholesterol ester
(CE), can be identified5.
The aim of this study is to develop non-invasive spectroscopy approaches that
will quantify the lipid content of plaques and will have the potential for
repeated in vivo measurements. Therefore, we intend to study the
reproducibility of plaque lipid content measurements by MRS in subjects that
are known to have carotid artery plaques.

The primary aim of this study is to assess reproducibility of carotid artery
plaque lipid content by means of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

Reproducibility study, using non-invasive MRS.

None.