18F FDG and 68Ga FAPI PET/MR Imaging of Carotid Artery Plaque Vulnerability: A Clinical Study in Carotid Artery Plaque Patients

Carotid atherosclerotic plaque rupture is the main cause of ischemic stroke attacks, and early and precise assessment of plaque vulnerability can prevent ischemic stroke. High-resolution MRI can reflect vulnerable plaque features such as thin fibrous caps and large lipid cores, but cannot assess their metabolic information; Fibro-activated proteins (FAPs) of PET are specifically expressed in atherosclerosis and suggest vulnerable plaques by reflecting inflammation-induced fibrosis. The aim of this study was to apply 18F FDG\&68Ga-FAPI PET/MR imaging to investigate the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaques, to obtain quantitative evaluation indexes of active fibrosis within carotid plaques, and to clarify the PET/MR characteristics of unstable plaques in carotid arteries

NCT Number	NCT07004673
Lead Sponsor	Ruijin Hospital Collaborators: National Natural Science Foundation of China
Conditions	Carotid Artery Plaque, Ischemic Stroke, PET / MR
Enrollment	100 participants
Start Date	2025-04-12
Primary Completion	2026-12-31 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-12-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-03-05