View clinical trials related to Plaque, Atherosclerotic.
Filter by:Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and around the world. The goal of this work is to develop and test a noninvasive ultrasound-based imaging technology to better identify patients at high risk of stroke so that appropriate and timely intervention may be administered to prevent it.
Combination therapy of ezetimibe with a low-dose statin is occasionally used to avoid statin-related side effects in clinical practice among patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. This approach is equivalent to high-dose statin therapy to decrease LDL cholesterol level by >50%, allowing such patients to achieve LDL cholesterol target. However, it remains uncertain whether combination therapy with ezetimibe and low-dose statin verse high-dose statin monotherapy similarily suppress atherosclerotic plaque inflammation. This study is to compare high-dose rosuvastatin versus low-dose rosuvastatin plus ezetimibe on carotid plaque inflammation in patients with acute coronary syndrome using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.
This study compares a new method of treating severely calcified coronary lesions, the intracoronary lithoplasty, with the current gold standard, the rotablation.
Multicenter randomized clinical trial with two arms in patients hospitalized for an AMI nested in the Frenchie registry. Periodontal therapy is performed by periodontists in the intervention group versus treatment by dental surgeons as part of their usual practice in the control group. For the intervention group, periodontal management will be carried out for a maximum of 6 months after randomisation, prolonged by a follow-up of 6 months including a maintenance visit at M9. All patients will have an FDG-PET at M0 and M12 for evaluation of inflammation on carotid atherosclerotic plaques.
Non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), particularly common in women, has been associated with impaired quality of life and risk of recurrent hospitalizations. Several studies have also demonstrated increased risk of incident acute coronary events and mortality. The main objective of the project is to assess the association between coronary artery plaque features by coronary CT angiography and long term prognosis in a large unselected population undergoing CT coronary angiography due to stable angina and suspected myocardial ischemia from the Norwegian Registry for Invasive Cardiology (NORIC) diagnosed with non-obstructive CAD by coronary CT angiography.
The role of methylase system and Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) in the accelerated atherosclerotic progression of diabetic patients is unclear. Authors will evaluate methylase activity and PCSK9 in carotid plaques of asymptomatic diabetic and non diabetic patients, as well as the effect of statin added to PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9i) therapy vs. statin alone in diabetic plaques. Plaques will be obtained from 43 type 2 diabetic and 30 non diabetic patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. Diabetic patients will receive statin therapy (n 23) or statin plus PCSK9i (140 mg of evolocumab; n 20) or placebo (n 23) for 4 months before scheduled endarterectomy. Plaques will be analyzed for macrophages (CD68), T-cells (CD3), inflammatory cells (HLADR), methylase activity, nuclear factor (NF)-KB, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, nitrotyrosine, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and collagen content (immunohistochemistry and enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay. Authors' study hypothesis is that methylase and PCSK9 over-activity will be associated with enhanced inflammatory reaction and NF-KB expression in diabetic plaques. Secondly, the inhibition of methylase activity in atherosclerotic lesions of diabetic patients by metformin plus SLGT2i might be associated with morphological and compositional characteristics of a potential stable plaque phenotype, possibly by down regulating NF-KB-mediated inflammatory pathways.
The proposed study will investigate the clinical use of the ISCDX test that may differentiate between diverse stroke etiologies as listed below: Aim 1: Differentiate between cardioembolic and large artery atherosclerotic ischemic strokes, when hemorrhagic stroke is ruled out, as defined by TOAST classification of subtypes of acute ischemic stroke. Aim 2: In cases of ischemic strokes of unknown or "cryptogenic" etiology, determine the ability of biomarker blood tests to predict etiology between cardioembolic and large artery atherosclerotic.
Recently, ultrashort echo time (UTE) MR, which allows detection of the ultrashort T2 components, has been used to image plaque calcification in ex vivo carotid and coronary arteries. The results demonstrated that UTE images are able to identify plaque calcification and enables accurate quantification of calcium volumes. However, gadolinium-based contrast agents during in vivo CMR could not be performed in these ex vivo study. Agnese et al. believed that calcifications with 18F-NaF PET uptake might be considered to represent dormant areas where on-going mineralization, which is a key sign to identify and localise ruptured and high risk coronary plaque. We, therefore, hypothesize that enhanced carotid calcification presented by UTE MR may be a critical sign for symptomatic patients. In this study, we will investigate the feasibility of enhanced UTE MR in human carotid arteries in vivo. Furthermore, we analyzed the correlation between UTE MR and microcalcification of in the carotid plaques. Based on the diagnostic ability of enhanced UTE MR for microcalcification, we will investigate the potential of enhanced calcification to distinguish symptomatic from asymptomatic patients with carotid atherosclerosis and research the prognostic ability of enhance calcufication in UTE MR.
The purpose of this multiple-center study are: 1) To establish the ultrasound criteria for evaluating vulnerable plaques by comparing the plaque echo characteristics before CEA (carotid artery endarterectomy) and plaque specimen after CEA. 2) To establish the carotid artery recanalization strategies based on the evaluation results of carotid artery and intracranial artery by color doppler flow imaging and TCCS/TCD (transcranial color coded sonography/transcranial doppler). 3) To compare the success rate and the incidence of restenosis between CEA and carotid artery stenting.
Intracranial atherosclerotic disease is the most common cause of ischemic stroke that is directly attributed to the progression or rupture of intracranial high-risk plaque in Asia. Many studies mainly from Euro-American population with a focus on extracranial carotid plaque have fully demonstrated the advantages of intensive statin therapy on stabilizing or reversing plaque burden, reversing plaque composition presenting that lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) is gradually replaced by fibrous tissue, and even reversing pattern of arterial remodeling to reduce the occurrence of cerebrovascular events. Yet, direct evidence of the effect of intensive statin therapy on intracranial atherosclerotic plaques is lacking and the effect of statin intensity and duration on intracranial plaque burden and composition is still unclear. High resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) is a new and non-invasive technique that enable to assess the morphologic characteristics of vascular wall and plaque composition of intracranial artery. Based on above discussion, the investigators conduct this study to further determine the effect of intensive statin in ischemic stroke with intracranial atherosclerotic plaques.