Fig. 1

Architectural visualization of high resolution, meso-scale heterogeneity in pathologic thoracic aorta section in our rabbit model of atherosclerosis using Q-space CMR. A Illustrates the presence of a highly disorganized, isotropic, lipid-filled region detected by PLM. B Representative image of an aorta section without rupture, the green and red region of the pathologic aortic vessel wall is shown in the enlargement derived using CMR. The blue region shows a disordered region of the vessel wall containing CE, as shown by PLM in (A). C PLM of elastin tissue fibers demonstrating lipid-free, anisotropic, diffusion-restrictive organization. Color code in the CMR panel indicates the orientation of anisotropy. CE, cholesterol esters; CMR, cardiovascular magnetic resonance; PLM, polarized light microscopy