Active clinical trials for "Plaque, Atherosclerotic"

The purpose of this study is to determine whether intensive lipid lowering and Omega-3 fatty acid are effective in the treatment of coronary atherosclerotic plaque.

The goal of this study is to use three (3) different imaging techniques:Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) allows precise measurement of blood flow in the arteries to the heart, and is more reliable than pictures alone to determine the significance of blockages in the heart; Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy-Intravascular Ultrasound (NIRS IVUS) provides information about the amount of lipid and cholesterol in the plaque, and plaque volume; and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) allows physicians to assess tears in the surface of plaque and plaque thickness; to evaluate high risk non-infarct-related coronary lesion in patients who have suffered a recent heart attack, underwent successful opening of the artery with a stent, and have blockages greater than or equal to 50% in one or more of the other arteries to the heart; and to correlate this findings with cardiovascular outcomes at 1 year.

Gingival inflammation has been associated with cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke, because of elevation of blood risk markers such as cholesterol, glucose and C reactive protein. The treatment of gingival diseases decreases the concentration of these risk factors in the blood of cardiovascular patients.

This will be a pilot study of 9 patients undergoing standard-of-care clinically indicated carotid endarterectomy. The nine patients will receive an injection of Indocyanine green (ICG) at a dose of 0.25 mg/kg (maximum 25 mg) as an intravenous bolus. Immediately following endarterectomy, the resected specimen will be immersed in normal saline. Ex vivo fluorescence reflectance imaging (FRI) and immunohistochemistry will be performed. The investigators hypothesize that compared to controls, ICG-injected patients will demonstrate increased ex vivo and microscopic ICG fluorescence signal within areas of plaque.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether 18F-NaF (sodium fluoride) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans can be used to identify ruptured and high-risk plaque as compared to non-invasive coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) scans and high-definition intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). In subsets of patients, 18F-NaF PET scans and CCTA will be repeated to assess scan-rescan reproducibility.

Evaluation of reduced radiation dose iterative reconstruction reconstructions for calcium scoring compared to full dose filtered back projection reconstructions

The purpose of this study is to determine whether HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, atorvastatin attenuates inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques detected by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG) PET.

Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. One of the causes of stroke which can be treated is narrowing of the carotid artery. Currently the only definite treatment option is surgery or endovascular treatment. All patients not qualified for or awaiting surgery are, therefore, left with best medical therapy and with a yearly risk of stroke anywhere between 1% - 35% depending on the severity of the disease. The study will use the properties of a tomato extract containing lycopene. Previously studies have demonstrated beneficial properties of tomato extracts: It decreases lipid oxidation It decreases DNA damage It has properties that reduce the speed and amount of cell divisions that inflammatory and smooth muscle cells undergo (both of these cell types contribute to atheroma formation). The investigators wish to assess whether long-term food supplementation with a tomato extract containing lycopene could influence atherosclerotic plaque characteristics. The investigators will assess this using Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the plaque and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography for counting the number of blood clots that go to the brain's arteries. Furthermore the investigators wish to examine the effect of long-term food supplementation with a tomato extract containing lycopene on blood cholesterol levels and lipid oxidation and blood markers of inflammation and injury of the inner lining of the arteries. This will be a single center, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled study.

The aim of Multiplaque clinical study is to assess the vulnerability degree of the atheromatous plaques, before and after a myocardial infarction (MI), based on multiomics analysis, associated with invasive and non-invasive data. In this study, a multi-parametric model for risk prediction will be developed, for evaluation of the risk that is associated with the vulnerable coronary plaques in patients that have suffered an acute coronary syndrome. In the study, evaluation of the imaging characteristics of these coronary plaques will be performed with the use of CT, OCT, IVUS and invasive angiography. We will study the correlation between plaque evolution and (1) the degree of vulnerability at baseline, (2) multiomics profile of the patients and (3) clinical evolution during follow-up. Also, new techniques for evaluation of the functional significance of coronary stenoses will be studied and validated, such as calculation of the fractional flow reserve or determination of shear stress in areas that are localized within the near vicinity of the vulnerable coronary plaques.

The investigators plan to evaluate the correlation between carotid plaque enhancement on Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), significant coronary artery disease (CAD), and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in a systematic manner. The investigators hypothesize that increased levels of CEUS-detected vulnerable carotid plaque will be predictive of CV risk determined by angiography and future cardiovascular events.