The Rotterdam Study explores the relationship between atherosclerotic plaques and cardiovascular (CV) disease risk factors, as this area has not yet been extensively studied.
In a recent editorial published in the European Heart Journal, Zahi A. Fayad and Venkatesh Mani from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA, and Valentin Fuster from the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid Spain outline the need for more clinical trials, such as The Rotterdam Study, that use plaque characterisation as an endpoint.
Conventional CV risk factors and the Framingham risk score do not fully account for CV events in asymptomatic patients. Techniques such as MR have allowed detailed information regarding plaque characteristics to be determined, which will undoubtedly help screen asymptomatic patients at risk of CV events, and who would benefit from early therapies or aggressive treatment.
The authors of this editorial state that although studies such as the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) carotid MRI study have helped identify risk factors and shown the correlation between carotid thickness and various plaque characteristics such as Lipid Rich Necrotic Centres (LRNC) – more studies are needed that employ standardised methodologies for plaque characterisation, and that quantitatively measure high-risk plaque features as an endpoint.