OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of olmesartan on progression of coronary atherosclerosis. BACKGROUND Prior intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) trial results suggest slowing of coronary atheroma progression with some medicines but have not shown convincing evidence of regression with angiotension-II receptor blocking agents. METHODS A prospective, randomized, multicen...

Coronary artery disease due to atherosclerosis takes the lives of approximately 550,000 Americans each year-an enormous toll. Put in economic terms, the cost to the United States alone has been estimated to exceed 60 billion dollars annually. We have found that well-resolved proton ('H) NMR spectra can be obtained from human atheroma (fatty plaque), despite its macroscopic solid appearance. The...

BACKGROUND To establish a histopathologic basis for angioscopic and ultrasound image interpretation we studied 70 postmortem human arterial segments in vitro. METHODS AND RESULTS We used 7- to 9-French fiber-optic angioscopes and 20- to 30-MHz intravascular ultrasound imaging catheters. Three observers assigned an angioscopic and ultrasound image classification to each vessel segment. The ima...

OBJECTIVE Atherosclerosis is prevalent in diabetic patients, but there is little information on the localization of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) within the plaque and their relationship with inflammation. We sought to characterize the NEFA composition and location in human diabetic atheroma plaques by metabolomic analysis and imaging and to address their relationship with inflammation acti...

Activated T lymphocytes accumulate early in atheroma formation and persist at sites of lesion growth and rupture, suggesting that they may play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Moreover, atherosclerotic lesions contain the Th1-type cytokine IFN-gamma, a potentiator of atherosclerosis. The present study demonstrates the differential expression of the 3 IFN-gamma-inducibl...

PURPOSE Even after comprehensive evaluations, the etiology of 25-39% ischemic stroke remains unknown, and such a stroke often labeled as cryptogenic. Herein, we report a young patient with "cryptogenic stroke" caused by an intracranial atheroma, which was only visible on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI). CASE REPORT A 22-year-old male presented with acute right limb weaknes...

EVIDENCE has now accumulated that incorporation of blood clot into arterial intima might as well be a cause as a result of arteriosclerosis. Those who have studied large human systemic arteries from this thrombogenic viewpoint agree that all aspects of intimal arteriosclerosis including atheroma can follow incorporation of blood clot.1-4 Because red cell envelopes are rich in lipoid, it is sugg...

A42-year-old man received a cardiac transplantation in October 1995 for dilated cardiomyopathy. He had no history of hyperlipidemia or coronary artery disease. The heart donor was a 41-year-old woman with a history of hypertension. The first intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) study was obtained 14 days after cardiac transplantation, and the last follow-up examination was performed 5 years later. F...