MRI can predict risk of heart attack.

• Position: Cardiology - Magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging of aortic atherosclerosis can predict the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in otherwise healthy individuals, relates a study in Radiology. The investigation is the first large-scale study to evaluate the predictive value of MRI measures of aortic atherosclerosis for future cardiac events.

Using MRI, researchers were able to measure in thousands of participants very subtle--but highly significant--differences in two distinct measures of aortic atherosclerosis: aortic plaque build-up and thickness of the aortic walls. Individuals with a thicker aortic wall have almost a twofold higher risk of a future adverse event, indicates internist Amit Khera, senior author of the paper.

"Both measurements are predictors of cardiovascular events, but there's an important difference between accumulation of plaque and the thickness of the aortic walls. Accumulation of plaque tells us there is increased risk for peripheral vascular occlusion, stroke, and abdominal aortic aneurysms, but not all forms of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and death from cardiovascular disease. In contrast, thickening of the aortic walls is more likely to be predictive of all forms of cardiovascular disease."

Adds diagnostic radiologist Christopher Maroules, first author of the paper: "The relationship between coronary atherosclerosis and adverse cardiovascular events has long been established, but much less is...