A study is published online in the journal Radiology states that researchers are close to finding an imaging technique that can identify thickening of the coronary artery wall, an early stage of coronary heart disease (CAD).
Lead researcher Khaled Z Abd-Elmoniem, staff scientist in the Biomedical and Metabolic Imaging branch of NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases said, “Imaging the coronary arteries that supply the heart with blood is extremely difficult because they are very small and constantly in motion. Obtaining a reliable and accurate image of these vessels is very important because thickening of the vessel wall is an early indicator of atherosclerosis.”
“We currently have no reliable way to non-invasively image coronary artery disease in its early stages, when the disease can be treated with lifestyle changes and medications to lower cholesterol,” informed Dr Abd-Elmoniem.
The researchers used MRI to measure the wall thickness of the coronary arteries in 26 patients with at least one risk factor for CAD and 12 healthy control participants matched to patients by body mass index (BMI). The mean age of the patients, comprising 13 men and 13 women, was 48; healthy controls included three men and nine women (mean age 26).
To measure the coronary artery wall thickness, the researchers used both, a single-frame MRI scan and an MRI technique called time-resolved multi-frame acquisition, in which five continuous images are captured in order to increase the success rate of obtaining an image free of blurring. Using the time-resolved multi-frame acquisition method, the success rate for obtaining a usable image was 90 per cent versus a success rate of 76 per cent for the single-frame method.
Use of the time-resolved multi-frame technique also resulted in a greater ability to detect a significant difference between the wall thickness measurements of CAD patients and the healthy participants, as well as a smaller standard deviation, which is indicative of more precise measurements. “These results suggest that MRI may be used in the future to screen for individuals at risk for coronary artery disease and may be useful for monitoring the effects of therapies,” Dr Abd-Elmoniem said.
Dr Abd-Elmoniem also said that unlike blood tests which measure cholesterol and lipids in the blood, which can be indicators of atherosclerosis, the thickness of coronary artery walls is a direct measurement of early-stage CAD. He said additional studies are needed to validate this multi-frame MRI technique.
EH News Bureau