Subject(s)
Diastole/physiology , Echocardiography, Doppler, Pulsed/methods , Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/diagnostic imaging , Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine/methods , Myocardial Contraction/physiology , Adult , Cardiac Catheterization/methods , Edema, Cardiac/diagnostic imaging , Edema, Cardiac/etiology , Female , Heart Septum/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Multimodal Imaging/methodsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Histological data associate proliferation of adventitial vasa vasorum and intraplaque neovascularization with vulnerable plaques represented by symptomatic vascular disease. In this observational study, the presence of carotid intraplaque neovascularization and adventitial vasa vasorum were correlated with the presence and occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and events (CVE). METHODS: The contrast-enhanced carotid ultrasound examinations of 147 subjects (mean age 64+/-11 years, 61% male) were analyzed for the presence of intraluminal plaque, plaque neovascularization (Grade 1=absent; Grade 2=present), and degree of adventitial vasa vasorum (Grade 1=absent, Grade 2=present). These observations were correlated with preexisting cardiovascular risk factors, presence of CVD, and history of CVE (myocardial infarction and transient ischemic attack/stroke). RESULTS: The presence of intraluminal carotid plaque was directly correlated to cardiovascular risk factors, CVD, and CVE (P<0.05). Adventitial vasa vasorum Grade 2 was associated with significant more subjects with CVD than vasa vasorum Grade 1 (73 versus 54%, P=0.029). Subjects with intraplaque neovascularization Grade 2 had significantly more often a history of CVE than subjects with intraplaque neovascularization Grade 1 (38 versus 20%, P=0.031). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that presence of plaque was significantly associated with CVD (odds ratio 4.7, 95% CI 1.6 to 13.8) and intraplaque neovascularization grade 2 with CVE (odds ratio 4.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 12.6). CONCLUSIONS: The presence and degree of adventitial vasa vasorum and plaque neovascularization were directly associated with CVD and CVE in a retrospective study of 147 patients undergoing contrast-enhanced carotid ultrasound.
Subject(s)
Carotid Arteries/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Stenosis/diagnostic imaging , Neovascularization, Pathologic/diagnostic imaging , Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color , Vasa Vasorum/diagnostic imaging , Aged , Cardiovascular Diseases/complications , Cardiovascular Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Stenosis/complications , Contrast Media , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neovascularization, Pathologic/complications , Retrospective Studies , Risk Factors , Time Factors , Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color/methodsABSTRACT
We describe a set of pictorial and auditory stimuli that we have developed for use in word learning tasks in which the participant learns pairings of novel auditory sound patterns (names) with pictorial depictions of novel objects (referents). The pictorial referents are drawings of "space aliens," consisting of images that are variants of 144 different aliens. The auditory names are possible nonwords of English; the stimulus set consists of over 2,500 nonword stimuli recorded in a single voice, with controlled onsets, varying from one to seven syllables in length. The pictorial and nonword stimuli can also serve as independent stimulus sets for purposes other than word learning. The full set of these stimuli may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive/.
