NIH R01 · 2025
Atherosclerosis in cocaine addiction: imaging risk with PET/MR
Cocaine use disorder (CUD) can cause vascular disease mainly through chronic vasoconstriction effects. Atherosclerosis can be present in the carotid artery (CA) even without overt clinical symptoms. Once symptoms are observable, the artery is usually damaged and cerebral ischemia can ensue, a common fatal outcome in CUD. Indeed, while there are postmortem studies documenting arterial disease in individuals with CUD (iCUD), studies for early in-vivo detection lag behind with catastrophic consequences. Here we will leverage the significant advances made in imaging for early detection of atherosclerosis in asymptomatic populations who are nevertheless at increased risk for vascular disease by…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.