Tornifoglio B, Stone AJ, Kerskens C, Lally C. Ex Vivo Study Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Identify Biomarkers of Atherosclerotic Disease in Human Cadaveric Carotid Arteries.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2022;
42:1398-1412. [PMID:
36172867 PMCID:
PMC9592180 DOI:
10.1161/atvbaha.122.318112]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
This study aims to address the potential of ex vivo diffusion tensor imaging to provide insight into the microstructural composition and morphological arrangement of aged human atherosclerotic carotid arteries.
METHODS
In this study, whole human carotid arteries were investigated both anatomically and by comparing healthy and diseased regions. Nonrigid image registration was used with unsupervised segmentation to investigate the influence of elastin, collagen, cell density, glycosaminoglycans, and calcium on diffusion tensor imaging derived metrics (fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity). Early stage atherosclerotic features were also investigated in terms of microstructural components and diffusion tensor imaging metrics.
RESULTS
All vessels displayed a dramatic decrease in fractional anisotropy compared with healthy animal arterial tissue, while the mean diffusivity was sensitive to regions of advanced disease. Elastin content strongly correlated with both fractional anisotropy (r>0.7, P<0.001) and mean diffusivity (r>-0.79, P<0.0002), and the thickened intima was also distinguishable from arterial media by these metrics.
CONCLUSIONS
These different investigations point to the potential of diffusion tensor imaging to identify characteristics of arterial disease progression, at early and late-stage lesion development.
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