Jul 2, 2006

Playing tag to detect heart problems

Posted in Health at 12:00 am by David Bradley -- Click to comment

New research using magnetic resonance imageing (MRI) is challenging conventional views regarding atherosclerosis and latent heart problems in patients that otherwise appear healthy.

By tagging different tissue prior to a scan, researchers can obtain a detailed view of the movement and function of those tissues. Now, by studying subjects in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) project, Joao Lima of the Department of Radiology, at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues there and in five other centres, have investigated whether an increase in the thickness of the carotid artery (so-called intima-media thickness, or IMT) can be related to reduced heart function. The MESA study is a prospective observational study including four ethnic groups and the participants have no clinical cardiovascular disease.

You can read the full story in the first July update of spectroscopyNOW.com

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