Abstract
Background and objectivesWe report in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and histopathology correlation of the thrombus formation in atherosclerosis the rabbit animal model.Design and methodsAtherosclerosis was induced in white male rabbits with vegetable ghee followed oxidized diet. Baseline MRI of atherosclerosis-recruited rabbits was done and later animals were used for atheroma histopathology characterization. Contiguous cross-sectional T2-weighted fast spin echo MRI images were compared by coronary histopathology. In all animals, coronary aortic wall thickening and atheroma size was measured using MRI.ResultsMRI images and digitized histological sections confirmed intraluminal thrombus in 6 (67%) of the 9 animals. MRI data showed correlation with the histopathology for aortic wall thickness (R2 = 0.82, P < 0.0001), lumen area (R2 = 0.88, P < 0.0001) and plaque size (R2 = 0.77, P < 0.0001). Optimized TE and TR parameters and multicontrast enhancement generated better MRI visibility of vulnerable plaque components. The MRI data evaluated % stenosis, plaque burden. Frequency of plaques, plaque height in aorta and coronary artery atheroma was also assessed by histology. In vivo, MRI determined the presence and size of the thrombus in this animal model of atherosclerosis and histopathology defined the plaque disruption.ConclusionThe combination of in vivo MRI and comparison with histopathology images of rabbit coronary thrombus may be a research tool for understanding of the pathogenesis of acute coronary plaques.
Highlights
Cardiovascular risk assessment was reported by the identification of flow-limiting coronary stenoses, wall thickness, and plaque burden and its components in rabbit experimental model [1] and risk dependence on lipid intake in diet [2]
These animals were scheduled on 12-week diet period on a high trans fatty acid (TFA) rich diet to develop hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis after which they were randomized to intervention and control groups
Selection of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image scan parameters generated three T1-weighted, T2-weighted and proton density-weighted images that further enhanced the contrast as shown in Figure 3
Summary
Cardiovascular risk assessment was reported by the identification of flow-limiting coronary stenoses, wall thickness, and plaque burden and its components in rabbit experimental model [1] and risk dependence on lipid intake in diet [2]. The mechanism of acute coronary syndromes is understood due to the disruption of an atherosclerotic coronary plaque with an overlying thrombus [3a, 3b, 4]. Thrombosis Journal 2004, 2 http://www.thrombosisjournal.com/content/2/1/5 not been applied to acute coronary syndromes and plaque chemical composition [5]. Using a rabbit experimental model [1], we evaluated MRI visible plaque features and compared with morphometric histology features with object if MRM can detect a thrombus overlying an atherosclerotic plaque at optimized MRI scan parameters with enhanced multi-contrast. We report in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and histopathology correlation of the thrombus formation in atherosclerosis the rabbit animal model
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