Latvian Early Atherosclerosis Registry

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an intravascular imaging technique. Patients after coronary angiography with or without angioplasty will undergo NIRS if deemed suitable by the interventionalist. NIRS has a high sensitivity and specificity for lipid core plaque detection.

Patients without explicit atherosclerosis risk factors and known genetic disorders will undergo genetic testing for LDLR, APOB, PCSK9 and LDLRAP1 genes in order to evaluate the presence of gene variations as a cause for early atherosclerosis. MiRNA-126, -145 and -155 expression in patients serum samples will be evaluated and correlated with plaque lipid core in near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) imaging.