MRI Technique for Earlier Heart-Attack Warning

Early indicators that a specific plaque exists may help physicians to target or prioritize treatment to the affected artery to minimize or prevent damage.

Utilizing MRI on a cell-culture model, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both based in Boston (MA, USA), concentrated on a specific blood-borne enzyme, myleoperoxidase (MPO). While not precisely associated with plaque rupture, it is a degradation product of MPO that activates the release of an enzyme that breaks down the fibrous cap surrounding a plaque, according to the researchers.

MRI tracks MPO levels to pinpoint regions of greatest risk for this type plaque activity. However, much more research is needed before this imaging technique may be ready for clinical use, according to the investigators. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemistry Society in Philadelphia (PA, USA) in August 2004.



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Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School