Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Despite recent advances, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally. As such, there is a need to optimise our current diagnostic and risk stratification pathways in order to better deliver individualised preventative therapies. Non-invasive imaging of coronary artery plaque can interrogate multiple aspects of coronary atherosclerotic disease, including plaque morphology, anatomy and flow. More recently, disease activity is being assessed to provide mechanistic insights into in vivo atherosclerosis biology. Molecular imaging using positron emission tomography is unique in this field, with the potential to identify specific biological processes using either bespoke or re-purposed radiotracers. This review provides an overview of non-invasive vulnerable plaque detection and molecular imaging of coronary atherosclerosis.

Original publication

DOI

10.1259/bjr.20190740

Type

Journal article

Journal

Br j radiol

Publication Date

01/09/2020

Volume

93

Keywords

Blood Platelets, Coronary Angiography, Coronary Artery Disease, Fluorine Radioisotopes, Humans, Plaque, Atherosclerotic, Platelet Glycoprotein GPIIb-IIIa Complex, Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography, Positron-Emission Tomography, Radiopharmaceuticals, Tomography, X-Ray Computed