American College of Cardiology

TAYLOR ET AL., 34th BETHESDA CONFERENCE: Can Atherosclerosis Imaging Techniques Improve the Detection of Patients at Risk for Ischemic Heart Disease?
J Am Coll Cardiol 2003;41:11:1855-917

BETHESDA CONFERENCE REPORT
34th Bethesda Conference: Can Atherosclerosis Imaging Techniques Improve the Detection of Patients at Risk for Ischemic Heart Disease?¹

Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSC, FACC, Co-Chair, Robert A. Vogel, MD, FACC, Co-Chair, Michael H. Criqui, MD, MPH, David M. Herrington, MD, FACC, Joao A. C. Lima, MD, FACC, Mary J. Roman, MD, FACC


Figure 5.

Figure 5. Transesophageal CMR images from two poststroke patients with increased LDL-cholesterol showing (A) homogeneous (from a 56-year-old African American hypertensive woman) and (B) heterogeneous (from a 72-year-old Caucasian man) CMR signal from thickened aortic walls. The scales are different (in actuality, the aortae have similar diameters), but the nonuniformity of wall thickness and heterogeneous signal, suggesting lipid infiltration from the patient portrayed in B, is clearly seen. In addition, these studies revealed the pitfalls of transesophageal echocardiography to assess aortic atherosclerosis caused by its near-field limitations in imaging the anterior aspect of the aortic wall.