Table 1.
Information Provided by Various Imaging Modalities to Identify the Vulnerable Plaque
| Summary Feature Detected | Lumen Stenosis | Vessel Wall | Lipid Content | Fibrous Tissue | Calcium | Thrombus | Inflam’n | Predict Events | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invasive Modalities | |||||||||
| Angiography | Degree of stenosis | + | - | - | - | +/- | +/- | - | +/- |
| IVUS (Elastography, palpography and virtual histology) | Plaque volume, vessel dimensions, (plaque deformability and composition) | + | + | +/- | + | + | +/- | - | +/- |
| Angioscopy | Plaque Color | - | - | + | + | - | + | - | +/- |
| OCT | Plaque architecture and cap thickness | + | + | + | + | + | + | - | ? |
| Thermography | PlaqueTemperature | - | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | + | +/- |
| Raman/NIR | Plaque chemical constituents | - | - | + | + | + | - | - | ? |
| Non-Invasive Modalidies | |||||||||
| Nuclear Scintigraphy | Plaque constituents | - | - | + | - | - | + | - | ? |
| EBCT | Predominantly calcium | + | - | - | - | + | - | - | +/- |
| MSCT | Vessel characteristics | + | + | + | + | + | - | - | ? |
| MRI | Plaque volume | + | + | + | + | + | - | - | ? |