Technology Assessment: Vulnerable Plaques: A Brief Review of the Concept and Proposed Approaches to Diagnosis and Treatment. Table 2

You Are Here: AHRQ Archive Home > Technology Assessment Archive > Vulnerable Plaques

Vulnerable Plaques

This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: https://info.ahrq.gov. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information.

Please go to www.ahrq.gov for current information.

Table 2. Imaging modalities that have been used or proposed to evaluate "VP" and similar conditions (modified from MacNeill 2003; Fayad 2001)

Imaging Modality		SpatialResolution (ì)	Vessel Wall Penetration(mm)	Features Detected						Comments
Imaging Modality		SpatialResolution (ì)	Vessel Wall Penetration(mm)	Image of vessel wall	Fibrous Cap	Lipid Core	Inflammation	Calcium	Thrombus	Comments
Invasive Methods	Angiography		NA	*				*	*	Reference standard for stenotic lesions
	Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS)	40~100	~10	*	*	*		*	*	Characterizes vessel wall and morphology, good for calcified plaque, poor for lipids
	Angioscopy	Visual	Poor	*	*	*			*	Direct visualization of lumen surface, using color and surface appearance to identify vulnerable plaques
	Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)	2~30	1~2		*	*	*	*	*	Provides cross-sectional images of vessel wall and quantifies fibrous cap thickness and extent of lipid collections
	Thermography	500	Poor				*			Images temperature heterogeneity due to rise in temperature in macrophage-rich areas in plaque
	Raman Spectroscopy	NA	1~1.5		*	*	*	*		Analysis of Raman spectrum for chemical composition of atherosclerotic plaque
	Near infrared Spectroscopy	NA	2		*	*	*	*
	Intravascular MRI	160	Good		*	*	*	*	*	Measurements of cap thickness and characterization of atherosclerotic lesion
Non-invasive Methods	Surface Ultrasound	400	Good	*	*	*		*	*	Characterizes vessel wall and morphology, good for calcified plaque, poor for lipids
	Computed Tomography		NA					*	*	More useful for detection of calcified plaques
	Nuclear Scintigraphy	Poor	NA			*			*	Based on specific binding of radioactive labeled molecules to the target tissue (such as radiolabeled LDL)
	Standard MRI	300	Good		*	*	*	*	*	Measurements of cap thickness and characterization of atherosclerotic lesion

Return to Document

The information on this page is archived and provided for reference purposes only.