Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology
Volume 19, Issue 10 , Pages 1403-1408 , October 2008

Quantitative 3T MR Imaging of the Descending Thoracic Aorta: Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia Have an Increased Aortic Plaque Burden Despite Long-Term Lipid-lowering Therapy

  • Stephan A. Schmitz, MD

      Affiliations

    • Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to S.A.S.
    • ,
  • Declan P. O'Regan, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • ,
  • Julie Fitzpatrick

      Affiliations

    • Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • ,
  • Clare Neuwirth

      Affiliations

    • Clinical Research Facility, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • Lipid Clinic, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England
    • ,
  • Elizabeth Potter

      Affiliations

    • Clinical Research Facility, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • Lipid Clinic, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England
    • ,
  • Isabella Tosi

      Affiliations

    • Clinical Research Facility, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • Lipid Clinic, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England
    • ,
  • Joseph V. Hajnal, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • ,
  • Rossi P. Naoumova, MD

      Affiliations

    • Clinical Research Facility, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN England
    • Lipid Clinic, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England

Received 4 November 2007 ,Revised 15 June 2008 ,Accepted 30 June 2008.

References 

  1. Hofmann LV, Liddell RP, Arepally A, Montague B, Yang X, Bluemke DA. In vivo intravascular MR imaging: transvenous technique for arterial wall imaging. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2003;14:1317–1327
  2. Meissner OA, Rieger J, Rieber J, et al. High-resolution MR imaging of human atherosclerotic femoral arteries in vivo: validation with intravascular ultrasound. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2003;14:227–231
  3. Wyttenbach R, Gallino A, Alerci M, et al. Effects of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and endovascular brachytherapy on vascular remodeling of human femoropopliteal artery by noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging. Circulation. 2004;110:1156–1161
  4. Moody AR, Murphy RE, Morgan PS, et al. Characterization of complicated carotid plaque with magnetic resonance direct thrombus imaging in patients with cerebral ischemia. Circulation. 2003;107:3047–3052
  5. Hatsukami TS, Ross R, Polissar NL, Yuan C. Visualization of fibrous cap thickness and rupture in human atherosclerotic carotid plaque in vivo with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Circulation. 2000;102:959–964
  6. Schmitz SA, O'Regan DP, Gibson D, et al. Technical report: magnetic resonance direct thrombus imaging at 3 T field strength in patients with lower limb deep vein thrombosis—a feasibility study. Clin Radiol. 2006;61:282–286
  7. Amann-Vesti BR, Kozerke S, Krieger E, Boesiger P, Koppensteiner R. High wall shear stress measured by magnetic resonance is a predictor of restenosis in the femoral artery after balloon angioplasty. Int Angiol. 2004;23:270–275
  8. Shepherd J, Cobbe SM, Ford I, et al. Prevention of coronary heart disease with pravastatin in men with hypercholesterolemia (West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study Group). N Engl J Med. 1995;333:1301–1307
  9. 4S-Study-Group. Randomised trial of cholesterol lowering in 4444 patients with coronary heart disease: the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S). Lancet. 1994;344:1383–1389
  10. Mercuri M, Bond MG, Sirtori CR, et al. Pravastatin reduces carotid intima-media thickness progression in an asymptomatic hypercholesterolemic mediterranean population: the Carotid Atherosclerosis Italian Ultrasound Study. Am J Med. 1996;101:627–634
  11. Zhao XQ, Yuan C, Hatsukami TS, et al. Effects of prolonged intensive lipid-lowering therapy on the characteristics of carotid atherosclerotic plaques in vivo by MRI: a case-control study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2001;21:1623–1629
  12. Takagi T, Yoshida K, Akasaka T, Hozumi T, Morioka S, Yoshikawa J. Intravascular ultrasound analysis of reduction in progression of coronary narrowing by treatment with pravastatin. Am J Cardiol. 1997;79:1673–1676
  13. Corti R, Fuster V, Fayad ZA, et al. Effects of aggressive versus conventional lipid-lowering therapy by simvastatin on human atherosclerotic lesions: a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;46:106–112
  14. Lima JA, Desai MY, Steen H, Warren WP, Gautam S, Lai S. Statin-induced cholesterol lowering and plaque regression after 6 months of magnetic resonance imaging–monitored therapy. Circulation. 2004;110:2336–2341
  15. Yonemura A, Momiyama Y, Fayad ZA, et al. Effect of lipid-lowering therapy with atorvastatin on atherosclerotic aortic plaques detected by noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;45:733–742
  16. Stone NJ, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS, Verter J. Coronary artery disease in 116 kindred with familial type II hyperlipoproteinemia. Circulation. 1974;49:476–488
  17. Slack J. Risks of ischaemic heart-disease in familial hyperlipoproteinaemic states. Lancet. 1969;2:1380–1382
  18. Smilde TJ, van Wissen S, Wollersheim H, Trip MD, Kastelein JJ, Stalenhoef AF. Effect of aggressive versus conventional lipid lowering on atherosclerosis progression in familial hypercholesterolaemia (ASAP): a prospective, randomised, double-blind trial. Lancet. 2001;357:577–581
  19. Mortality in treated heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia: implications for clinical management (Scientific Steering Committee on behalf of the Simon Broome Register Group). Atherosclerosis. 1999;142:105–112
  20. Neil HA, Hammond T, Huxley R, Matthews DR, Humphries SE. Extent of underdiagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia in routine practice: prospective registry study. BMJ. 2000;321:148
  21. Tosi I, Toledo-Leiva P, Neuwirth C, Naoumova RP, Soutar AK. Genetic defects causing familial hypercholesterolaemia: identification of deletions and duplications in the LDL-receptor gene and summary of all mutations found in patients attending the Hammersmith Hospital Lipid Clinic. Atherosclerosis. 2007;194:102–111
  22. Huxley RR, Hawkins MH, Humphries SE, Karpe F, Neil HA. Risk of fatal stroke in patients with treated familial hypercholesterolemia: a prospective registry study. Stroke. 2003;34:22–25
  23. Hoeg JM, Feuerstein IM, Tucker EE. Detection and quantitation of calcific atherosclerosis by ultrafast computed tomography in children and young adults with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Arterioscler Thromb. 1994;14:1066–1074
  24. Goldstein J, Hobbs H, Brown M. Familial hypercholesterolaemia. In:  Scriver C,  Beaudet A,  Sly W,  Valle D editor. The metabolic and molecular basis of inherited disorders. 7th ed.. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 1994;p. 1981–2030
  25. Neil HA, Huxley RR, Hawkins MM, Durrington PN, Betteridge DJ, Humphries SE. Comparison of the risk of fatal coronary heart disease in treated xanthomatous and non-xanthomatous heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia: a prospective registry study. Atherosclerosis. 2003;170:73–78
  26. Aikawa M, Rabkin E, Sugiyama S, et al. An HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, cerivastatin, suppresses growth of macrophages expressing matrix metalloproteinases and tissue factor in vivo and in vitro. Circulation. 2001;103:276–283
  27. Crisby M, Nordin-Fredriksson G, Shah PK, Yano J, Zhu J, Nilsson J. Pravastatin treatment increases collagen content and decreases lipid content, inflammation, metalloproteinases, and cell death in human carotid plaques: implications for plaque stabilization. Circulation. 2001;103:926–933
  28. Yuan C, Beach KW, Smith LH, Hatsukami TS. Measurement of atherosclerotic carotid plaque size in vivo using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Circulation. 1998;98:2666–2671
  29. Yuan C, Mitsumori LM, Ferguson MS, et al. In vivo accuracy of multispectral magnetic resonance imaging for identifying lipid-rich necrotic cores and intraplaque hemorrhage in advanced human carotid plaques. Circulation. 2001;104:2051–2056
  30. Li AE, Kamel I, Rando F, et al. Using MRI to assess aortic wall thickness in the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis: distribution by race, sex, and age. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2004;182:593–597

 D.P.O. has received a PhD stipend from Berlex Healthcare, United Kingdom.

PII: S1051-0443(08)00637-4

doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2008.06.020

Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology
Volume 19, Issue 10 , Pages 1403-1408 , October 2008

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution