Published in:
01-06-2020 | Ultrasound | Images that Teach
Signal intensity of superb micro-vascular imaging associates with the activity of vascular inflammation in Takayasu arteritis
Authors:
Shinichiro Ito, BS, Nobuhiro Tahara, MD, PhD, Saki Hirakata, MD, Shinjiro Kaieda, MD, PhD, Atsuko Tahara, MD, Shoko Maeda-Ogata, MD, Munehisa Bekki, MD, Yoichi Sugiyama, MD, Akihiro Honda, MD, PhD, Sachiyo Igata, PhD, Ryoko Kuromatsu, MD, PhD, Osamu Nakashima, MD, PhD, Yoshihiro Fukumoto, MD, PhD
Published in:
Journal of Nuclear Cardiology
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Issue 3/2020
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Excerpt
Takayasu arteritis is an inflammatory disease of the arteries that involves the aorta and its main branches, especially subclavian and carotid arteries. Pathological data suggest that inflammatory activity evolves from the adventitia to the intima and finally encloses the whole layer.
1 Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can depict signs suggestive of vascular inflammation in the arteries such as arterial wall thickening, increased wall signal intensity, and perivascular edema. Although CT or MRI is a well-established modality for primary diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis, it has a limited clinical role in the long-term follow-up of those patients when reactivation of the disease is suspected. Also, 18F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) cannot be frequently used for monitoring disease activity because of the high risk of radiation exposure. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the carotid arteries can identify vascular wall neovascularization as inflammatory activity in Takayasu arteritis.
2,
3 Superb micro-vascular imaging (SMI) is a novel ultrasonographic technique for visualizing low velocity and micro-vascular flow by clutter suppression to extract flow signals from large to small vessels without echocontrast media.
4 Therefore, SMI signal could be considered a potential marker of vascular inflammation in patients with Takayasu arteritis. …
