PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Kerem Ozer

Publications and source records attributed to Kerem Ozer.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Optical coherence tomography and its use in detection of vulnerable plaque.

Acute coronary syndromes and their associated complications related to coronary ischemia continue to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. The most commonly encountered pathophysiologic cascade of events resulting in this picture is initiated by formation of a vulnerable plaque. Despite the widespread use of a variety of imaging technologies, high-resolution detection of the vulnerable plaque and designing a method to correlate the results of the imaging modality with disease severity and prognosis have proven to be an arduous task. The recent introduction of optical coherence tomography has proven to be an innovative contribution to the diagnostic armamentarium for the cardiologist. This article presents an overview of vulnerable plaque and methods for its imaging. It focuses on how optical coherence tomography comes into play and how it compares with other modalities in regard to plaque characterization.

Animals↗

The lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor and its role in atherosclerosis.

The lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor (LOX-1), a recently identified receptor that plays a role in the uptake of oxidized low-density lipoproteins into endothelial cells, has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The ways this receptor takes part in atherosclerosis is through uptake of oxidized low-density lipoproteins into endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages; decreasing nitric oxide production; increasing inflammatory cell recruitment; and increasing smooth muscle cell proliferation. LOX-1 is inducible and regulated by multiple factors known to underlie atherogenesis. Further understanding of this receptor may lead to potential molecular targets for prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.

Animals↗

Vulnerable plaque: definition, detection, treatment, and future implications.

Atherosclerosis continues to account for significant morbidity and mortality in most of the world. The major proportion of atherosclerosis mortality is related to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, yet there still is not an optimal method for making the diagnosis of vulnerable plaque in vivo. The search for such an undefined method, along with studies on amelioration of currently available technology, gains special significance when the association between the qualitative definition of lesions in an individual and cardiovascular risks are considered. We, therefore, start by defining the critical lesion of coronary atherosclerosis and review the advantages and potential for clinical use of various methods to detect the vulnerable plaque and comment on possible future implications in this field.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗