Diederik Frank van Wijk1, S. Gonalves2,
Raphael Duivenvoorden3, D. F. Enklaar3, Paul F. Groot2,
J. B. Warntjes4,5, Erik S. Stroes3, Aart J. Nederveen2
1Vascular medicine,
Acedemic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 2Radiology,
Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 3Vascular
Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4Center
for Medical Imag Science & Visualization , Linkping University,
Linkping, Sweden; 5SyntheticMR AB, Linkping, Sweden
The cornerstone for preventive treatment strategies of patients at increased risk for an atherosclerotic event is early recognition of the prone to rupture plaque. MRI has recently shown to identify morphological characteristics, such as the intraplaque haemorrhage and the lipid rich necrotic core, which are considered to be important components of the vulnerable plaque. Absolute T2 values can accurately discriminate and indentify different tissues in a wide range of conditions and patients. Here, we used MR relaxometry to determine the absolute T2-values of two repetitive measurements in human carotid plaques.