External Imaging of Active Atherosclerosis with 99mTc-LDL

Atherosclerosis is usually thought of in anatomical or pathological terms. This is understandable since end-organ disease — myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral vascular disease — is the result of obstructive lesions which impair arterial blood flow. In terms of atherogenesis and detection of early atherosclerosis, however, it may be more useful to think of the disease in metabolic, biochemical, or pathophysiological parameters. The early stages of atherosclerosis are not associated with obstruction to flow, but are rather characterized by biochemical and metabolic changes in the arterial wall.