Carotid plaque contrast-agent enhancement with sonographic agents correlates with histological density of neovessels and is associated with plaque echolucency, a well-accepted marker of high risk lesions, but it is unrelated to the degree of stenosis. Contrast-enhanced carotid ultrasound imaging may provide valuable information for plaque risk stratification and for assessing the response to antiatherosclerotic therapies, beyond that provided by standard ultrasound imaging.

Background-Multiple complex stenoses, plaque fissures, and widespread coronary inflammation are common in acute coronary syndromes. A systemic cause of atherosclerotic plaque instability is also suggested by studies of ischemic cerebrovascular disease. We investigated the association between coronary and carotid plaque instability and the potential common causal role of inflammation. Methods and Results-The ultrasound characteristics of carotid plaques were evaluated retrospectively in patients scheduled for coronary bypass surgery, 181 with unstable and 92 with stable angina, and prospectively in a similar group of patients, 67 with unstable and 25 with stable angina, in whom serum C-reactive protein levels were also measured. The prevalence of carotid plaques was similar in the retrospective and prospective studies and Ͼ64% in both unstable and stable coronary patients.

Periadventitial contrast signal was detected in all patients and BFI thickness was higher in patient with carotid atherosclerosis and correlated with IMT.

Proliferation of the adventitial vasa vasorum (VV) is inherently linked with early atherosclerotic plaque development and vulnerability. Recently, direct visualization of arterial VV and intraplaque neovascularization has emerged as a new surrogate marker for the early detection of atherosclerotic disease. This clinical review focuses on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as a noninvasive application for identifying and quantifying carotid and coronary artery VV and intraplaque neovascularization. These novel approaches could potentially impact the clinician's ability to identify individuals with premature cardiovascular disease who are at high risk. Once clinically validated, the uses of CEUS may provide a method to noninvasively monitor therapeutic interventions. In the future, the therapeutic use of CEUS may include ultrasound-directed, site-specific therapies using microbubbles as vehicles for drug and gene delivery systems. The combined applications for diagnosis and therapy provide unique opportunities for clinicians to image and direct therapy for individuals with vulnerable lesions.

A 53-year-old woman with no risk factors was admitted to our hospital in December 2006 because of worsening angina and positive exercise stress test. Two months earlier, she had been admitted to another hospital because of prolonged epigastrial pain without radiation, which had subsided just before she reached the hospital, that was associated with diagnostic elevation of troponin; she reported 3 episodes of the same pain lasting Ϸ5 minutes in the early morning hours over the preceding 3 weeks. A few hours after admission, she had a recurrence of pain with ST elevation on the inferior electrocardiogram (ECG) leads that responded to intravenous nitrates. Subsequent angiography failed to show lumen stenosis, irregularities, and thrombus deposition, but ventriculography showed akinesia of the basal inferior wall. The discharge diagnosis was inferior STelevation myocardial infarction (creatine kinase-MB peak, 112 U/L; troponin I peak, 9.74 ng/mL) with normal coronary arteries, and she was prescribed aspirin, calcium, antagonists, and ␤-blockers.She remained symptom free for about a month. Then, during a very stressful period of her life, she began to present with anginal pain during effort, sometimes on emotion. She insisted that the features of this new pain were completely different from those of the attacks leading to the previous