View clinical trials related to Atherosclerosis.
Filter by:Background: - Atherosclerosis (thickening of the artery walls caused by cholesterol and other deposits) commonly occurs in the heart vessels and carotid (neck) arteries of adults. This is often present in individuals with high cholesterol levels in their blood. These patients are usually treated with cholesterol lowering medication ( statins ) along with modification of diet and exercise. Researchers are interested in investigating new approaches including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) imaging studies to detect blood vessel blockages that would not otherwise be detected by cholesterol levels and risk factors for heart disease. Objectives: - To measure atherosclerosis in the heart vessels and carotid arteries using imaging tests (computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) before and after standard treatment with cholesterol lowering medication ( statins ) Eligibility: - Healthy individuals at least 55 years of age who are candidates for therapy to lower their blood cholesterol levels. Design: - This study will involve one screening visit and seven study visits over a period of 2 years. - Participants will be screened with a physical examination and medical history, as well as blood samples and tests to ensure that it is safe for them to have CT and MRI scans. Participants will provide information on current medications, dietary habits, smoking status, alcohol and caffeine intake, and their level of physical activity. - Participants will be divided into two groups. One group will receive standard doses of medication to lower cholesterol according to current treatment guidelines, while the other group will have MRI scans of the carotid arteries and a CT scan of the heart to determine the best medication dose levels. - Visits 3 to 5 will be scheduled 3, 6, and 9 months after visit 2. During these visits, researchers will monitor for possible side effects and may change or adjust medications and doses. - At visit 6, participants will have an MRI scan of the carotid arteries, a physical examination, and blood tests. Medications may be changed or adjusted. - At visit 7, participants will have blood tests, and medications may be changed or adjusted. - At the final visit, participants will have MRI and CT scans of the carotid arteries and heart, respectively, as well as a final physical examination and blood tests.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether non-invasive atherosclerotic measurements (baPWV, IMT, FMD, CACS, ABI) are valuable predictors for cardiovascular events in elderly. At inception, routine physical examination and non-invasive atherosclerotic measurements will conducted on all participants. Then they will be followed prospectively for at least 2 years. All cardiovascular and other health events will be recorded.
The possibility of the identification of the risk of rupture of a carotid plaque will have tremendous impact in clinical decision making. Firstly, in symptomatic patients with a 30-69% stenosis, who are currently not operated upon according to the current guidelines, identification of the risk of rupture plaque could identify patients who have a high risk of recurrent stroke, and would benefit of carotid intervention, such as endarterectomy or stent placement. This could potentially prevent a substantial number of strokes. Secondly, in all symptomatic patients with a 70-99% stenosis carotid intervention should be considered, according to the guidelines. However, only one out of six patients with a 70-99% stenosis benefits from a carotid intervention. Identification of patients with a high risk of a recurrent stroke would reduce the number of unnecessary interventions substantially. The main objective is to show whether imaging characteristics assessed at baseline can predict clinical events in patients with a 30-69 % symptomatic carotid stenosis.
South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, and Sri Lankan) individuals have high rates of cardiovascular disease that is not explained by traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Though South Asians represent over one-quarter of the world's population, there are no longitudinal studies in this high-risk ethnic group. The investigators aim to establish a longitudinal study of South Asians at three United States centers to identify risk factors linked to subclinical atherosclerosis and incident cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study is to understand the causes of heart disease and stroke in South Asians and compare these causes to those in other United States ethnic groups.
The aim of this study was to measure the effect of moderate and intensive lipid-lowering treatment with rosuvastatin on the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) as a surrogate marker of cardiovascular risk.
Cardiovascular disease remains the most pressing healthcare issue for developed countries and is becoming so for developing countries. There are a number of chronic therapies available for long-term management of risk. Short term therapies for subjects with an acute event, such as an episode of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), are focused on reperfusion and removing thrombus but most subsequent events are caused by atherosclerotic plaque rupture at a different site. There are no approved therapies that can rapidly reduce the burden of unstable, inflamed plaque in the overall coronary vascular bed. HDL has multiple actions that could lead to atherosclerotic plaque stabilization, such as rapid removal of large quantities of cholesterol from the vasculature, improvement in endothelial function, protection against oxidative damage and reduction in inflammation. This study will assess the effects of CER-001, an ApoA-I-based HDL mimetic, on indices of atherosclerotic plaque progression and regression as assessed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) measurements in patients with (ACS).
The aim of this study is to develop non-invasive MRI, and MRS approaches that will quantify the plaque composition and lipid content of plaques and will have the potential for repeated in vivo measurements. Simultaneously this study aims to develop US plaque imaging as a screening tool to select plaque phenotypes of interest for clinical trials (a large LRNC). For plaque composition imaging by MRI the researchers aim to increase scan resolution and decrease scan time. For quantifying plaque lipid content the researchers aim to develop an MRS protocol. Subsequently, the researchers intend to study the reproducibility of plaque composition and lipid content measurements by MRI, MRS and Ultrasound in subjects that have carotid artery plaques.
In this study, multimodal imaging of atherosclerosis and dosage of new circulating biomarkers will be used to compare patients with stable or unstable coronary artery disease
Aim of the study is to compare the everolimus eluting stent and sirolimus eluting stent in all comers PCI eligible patients
Hypothesis: SLE and RA increase risk of myocardial infarction (MI, heart attack). Immune reactants in the circulation of SLE patients downregulate cholesterol efflux proteins 27-hydroxylase and ABCA1 and upregulate scavenger receptor CD36, thus encouraging cholesterol accumulation. Adenosine A2A receptor agonist or statin treatment of cells exposed to SLE plasma (or immune complexes or cytokine-enriched plasma fractions from SLE patients) may ameliorate inflammatory properties of their plasma, lessening its atherogenic potency. Rationale: SLE and RA plasma contain components not present in significant levels in normal plasma that could, individually or acting together, affect 27-hydroxylase, ABCA1 and CD36 expression. Candidate components include autoantibodies, immune complexes, and various cytokines. Statins reduce major cardiovascular events and death. Modulation of adenosine signaling participates in regulation of 27-hydroxylase and ABCA1. As a potential preventative and therapeutic approach to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the investigators evaluate the effect of A2A receptor agonists and statins on atherogenic parameters in SLE and RA plasma. Experimental Plan: Quantitate 27-hydroxylase and several other proteins involved in cellular cholesterol uptake and excretion in THP-1 monocytes/macrophages and HAEC after exposure to plasma and plasma components from SLE patients (and controls) ± lipid loading with acetylated LDL with/without addition of A2AR agonist, statin, or both. Determine relative impact of immune complexes and cytokines on expression of proteins involved in cholesterol flux. Determine levels of proteins involved in cellular cholesterol influx/efflux in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from RA, SLE and psoriatic arthritis patients and normal controls at baseline, then following incubation in culture media alone or with statin, adenosine A2A agonist or both statin + A2AR agonist.