Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Narrowed Arteries

March 3, 2008 updated by: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Intravascular Narrow Field Magnetic Resonance Arterial Wall Imaging

This study will compare four methods of imaging arteries:

  • angiography (x-ray picture)
  • intravascular ultrasound (ultrasound from inside the artery)
  • magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from outside the body
  • MRI using an antenna to take pictures inside the arteries of the pelvis

Standard angiography shows blockages inside the artery, but does not provide any information about the arterial wall itself. New ways of looking at the artery walls with MRI and ultrasound may provide insight into how arteries cause disease.

Patients 21 years of age and older who require catheterization and angiography of the heart, kidney, or leg arteries because of atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), may be eligible for this study. Participants will undergo MRI and intravascular ultrasound of the arteries immediately after their catheterization and angiography. The additional imaging will add from 1 to 2 hours to the angiogram procedure.

  • Angiography: Using the sheaths already in place in the groin artery, catheters (flexible plastic tubes) are placed inside the arteries in order to inject a contrast dye to take x-ray pictures. (Patients who had an angiogram of the leg artery as part of their medical care will not repeat this test.)
  • Intravascular ultrasound: An anti-clotting drug called heparin is given through a vein to prevent clot formation. Blood samples are taken during the test to see if more heparin is needed. Special wires are used to guide the catheters to the proper location inside the arteries. A special ultrasound catheter is advanced over one of these wires to the large artery that supplies blood to the legs. X-rays are used to help the physician place the ultrasound in the correct location to take ultrasound pictures of the artery wall.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging: A special MRI catheter is advanced through the catheter in the groin. With the catheter in place, the patient is carried to a stretcher and moved into a long metal cylinder (the MRI scanner) for imaging. During the scanning, a contrast drug called gadolinium is injected into an arm vein to brighten the images. The patient is able to speak through a microphone at all times to the person taking the pictures.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Coronary artery disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Disruption of atherosclerotic plaque is associated with acute coronary syndromes including myocardial infarction, but culprit lesions are difficult to identify beforehand. Animal models of atherosclerosis have proven limited. In vivo plaque characterization might be useful both in plaque prognostication and in understanding human vascular biology. One imaging modality, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been shown feasible for plaque visualization and characterization, but still has important limitations. In this pilot study we hope to apply a new MRI modality using coils (antennae) that are inside the artery being studied, to achieve superior imaging.

This pilot study will examine whether intravascular arterial wall MRI can visualize the arterial wall with a higher spatial resolution than currently available techniques of intravascular ultrasound or conventional magnetic resonance imaging using surface receiver coils. In particular, we hope to image in high resolution, for the first time, the outer arterial wall (adventitia), which is not readily visualized. MRI using intravascular coils may also enable the study of blood flow and contrast accumulation within arterial walls, potentially key markers of plaque angiogenesis and vulnerability.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

25

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Adult patients undergoing a clinically driven transfemoral diagnostic or therapeutic cardiac or peripheral catheterization procedure

EXCLUSION CRITERIA - General:

Contraindication to Heparin

Patients less than 21 years old

Pregnant or lactating women

EXCLUSION CRITERIA - Contraindications to MRI:

Prior allergic reaction to Gadolinium contrast

Cardiac pacemaker or implantable defibrillator

Cerebral aneurysm clip

Neural stimulator (e.g. TENS-Unit)

Any type of ear implant

Metal in eye (e.g. from machining)

Any implanted device (e.g. insulin pump, drug infusion device)

EXCLUSION CRITERIA - Contraindications to Iodinated Contrast in a Research Study:

Serum creatinine greater than 2.0 mg/dl

Decompensated congestive heart failure

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2002

Study Completion

December 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 15, 2002

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 15, 2002

First Posted (Estimate)

January 16, 2002

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 4, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2008

Last Verified

December 1, 2003

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 020071
  • 02-H-0071

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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