Imaging of atherosclerosis (Part II).

Several methods are currently used to detect and quantitate atherosclerosis. Standard methods like angiography, computed tomography and sonography are described in part I of this paper. Angiography, still considered to be the "gold standard" to detect atherosclerotic lesions is invasive, involves potential risks for the patient and cannot be used in asymptomatic subjects even though they may be at high risk to develop atherosclerosis. Computed tomography and sonography are suitable to define morphological alterations of atherosclerotic lesions, but they are unfit to characterize their functional stage. Functional methods such as scintigraphy (planar and single-photon-emission tomography), positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (reviewed in Part I) partly fulfil the claim to image early atherosclerosis. Preliminary evidence indicates that radioisotopic techniques and magnetic resonance imaging may be of great benefit in the future for elucidating functional aspects of this widespread disease. The functional diagnostic procedures available today are reviewed in this paper.