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Imaging of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

Nature volume 451, pages 953–957 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is characterized by thickening of the walls of the arteries, a process that occurs slowly and 'silently' over decades. This prolonged course of disease provides a window of opportunity for diagnosis before symptoms occur. But, until recently, only advanced atherosclerotic disease could be observed. Now, developments in imaging technology offer many enticing prospects, including detecting atherosclerosis early, grouping individuals by the probability that they will develop symptoms of atherosclerosis, assessing the results of treatment and improving the current understanding of the biology of atherosclerosis.

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Figure 1: The development of an atherosclerotic lesion.
Figure 2: Multimodal imaging of inflammation and atherosclerosis.

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Article 16 August 2019

Peter Libby, Julie E. Buring, … Eldrin F. Lewis

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, USA.,

    Javier Sanz & Zahi A. Fayad

  2. Departments of Radiology and Medicine, Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Imaging Science Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, 10029, New York, USA

    Zahi A. Fayad

Authors
  1. Javier Sanz
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  2. Zahi A. Fayad
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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Additional information

Correspondence should be addressed to Z.A.F. (zahi.fayad@mssm.edu).

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Sanz, J., Fayad, Z. Imaging of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Nature 451, 953–957 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06803

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