Abstract #3682

Contrast Kinetics of Gadolinium Uptake May Discriminate Stable from Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque

Alkystis Phinikaridou¹, Christopher Sucato¹, Stephan Anderson², James A. Hamilton¹

¹Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States; ²Radiology, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States

We used a rabbit model of controlled atherothrombosis to test whether in vivo MRI can distinguish between plaques that disrupt after pharmacological triggering (vulnerable) and those that do not (stable). We employed in vivo dynamic contrast enhanced MRI to study the contrast kinetics of gadolinium (Gd-DTPA) in a quantitative manner, which could help to understand the mechanism of gadolinium uptake and derive standardized criteria that could permit a differentiation of stable from vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques.