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Spectroscopy to improve identification of vulnerable plaques in cardiovascular disease

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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.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Andries J. Smit is one of the founders of DiagnOptics B.V., Groningen, the Netherlands, manufacturer of the AGE-Reader, which is a skin autofluorescence method not mentioned in the present article. There are no potential or actual, personal, political, or financial interests by any of the other authors in the material, information, or techniques described in the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, P.O. Box 30 001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Janneke L. M. Bruggink, Gooitzen M. van Dam & Clark J. Zeebregts

  2. Department of Surgery, Isala Clinics, Zwolle, The Netherlands

    Robbert Meerwaldt

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Joop D. Lefrandt & Andries J. Smit

  4. Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Riemer H. J. A. Slart

  5. Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    René A. Tio

Authors
  1. Janneke L. M. Bruggink
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  2. Robbert Meerwaldt
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  3. Gooitzen M. van Dam
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  8. Clark J. Zeebregts
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Correspondence to Clark J. Zeebregts.

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Bruggink, J.L.M., Meerwaldt, R., van Dam, G.M. et al. Spectroscopy to improve identification of vulnerable plaques in cardiovascular disease. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 26, 111–119 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-009-9500-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-009-9500-z

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