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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2001;21:1244.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Atherosclerosis and Lipoproteins

Discrimination of Human Coronary Artery Atherosclerotic Lipid-Rich Lesions by Time-Resolved Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Laura Marcu; Michael C. Fishbein; Jean-Michel I. Maarek; Warren S. Grundfest

From Laser Research and Technology Development, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (L.M., W.S.G.); the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California (L.M., J.-M.I.M.); and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine (M.C.F.), Los Angeles, Calif.

Correspondence to Laura Marcu, PhD, Laser Research and Technology Development, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 650 S San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. E-mail lmarcu{at}bmsrs.usc.edu

Abstract—Lesion composition plays a significant role in atherosclerotic lesion instability and rupture. Current clinical techniques cannot fully characterize lesion composition or accurately identify unstable lesions. This study investigates the use of time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy for unstable atherosclerotic lesion diagnosis. The fluorescence of human coronary artery samples was induced with nitrogen laser and detected in the 360- to 510-nm wavelength range. The samples were sorted into 7 groups according to the AHA classification: normal wall and types I, II_a (fatty streaks), III (preatheroma), IV (atheroma), V_a (fibrous), and V_b (calcified) lesions. Spectral intensities and time-dependent parameters [average lifetime _f; decay constants: ₁ (fast-term), ₂ (slow-term), A₁ (fast-term amplitude contribution)] derived from the time-resolved spectra of coronary samples were used for tissue characterization. We determined that a few intensity values at longer wavelengths (>430 nm) and time-dependent parameters at peak emission region (390 nm) discriminate between all types of arterial samples except between normal wall and type I lesions. The lipid-rich lesions (more unstable) can be discriminated from fibrous lesions (more stable) on the basis of time-dependent parameters (lifetime and fast-term decay). We inferred that features of lipid fluorescence are reflected on lipid-rich lesion emission. Our results demonstrate that analysis of the time-resolved spectra may be used to enhance the discrimination between different grades of atherosclerotic lesions and provide a means of discrimination between lipid-rich and fibrous lesions.

Key Words: atherosclerosis • lesion instability • time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence • spectroscopy

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