Serial in vivo MRI documents arterial remodeling in experimental atherosclerosis

Arterial remodeling in response to atherosclerosis may be outward (positive) or inward (negative) and is an important mechanism in the clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis and restenosis after percutaneous coronary interventions. Postmortem and intravascular ultrasound studies of arterial remodeling do not allow serial and noninvasive data to be obtained. In a rabbit model of atherosclerosis, we sought to validate MRI as a new tool for documentation of arterial remodeling. Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits underwent serial MRI at baseline and 6 months after aortic balloon denudation. The lumen area had a small but significant (P=0.006) increase, from 4.36+/-0.16 to 4. 89+/-0.12 mm(2). There was a large, significant (P