Vascular Surgery
Vascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the western world. In order to prevent disease development and develop preventive strategies, a complete understanding of basic cellular and molecular mechanisms is necessary. Our group utilizes a translational platform with advanced cell- and molecular biology, animal models in combination with patient centred research to resolve target processes in peripheral vascular disease such as mechanisms related to thromboembolic carotid disease and stroke, pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms, vascular repair processes and inflammation in association with interventional procedures and pulmonary hypertension. The close proximity between clinical vascular surgery and advanced molecular research creates a unique platform for the resolution of issues of immediate concern for clinical care as well as breeding of future clinical academic leadership.
The group is the main research team at the clinical department of vascular surgery at the Karolinska University Hospital and belongs to the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery at the Karolinska Institutet. It contains several principal investigators, each with a specific target project, an administrative and technical staff, post-docs, and PhD students. Collaborations are established with the cardiovascular research groups at CMM, the Departments of Clinical Physiology, Neurology, Cardiology, Nuclear Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, and Clinical Pharmacology at the hospital as well as the Departments of Cell and Molecular Biology and Molecular Biochemistry and Biology, researchers at Royal School of Technology and at Uppsala University.
Research Teams
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Cecilia Österholm Corbascio
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Molecular Imaging
Our research aims towards the development of novel, targeted molecular imaging agents for provision of better, faster and less invasive imaging of atherosclerosis. Our anticipated imaging techniques include PET-, MR- and US-imaging.
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in Sweden (41% of all deaths) as well as in the rest of the western world and it is also on the rise in the developing countries. This is mainly owing to the increasing prevalence of atherosclerosis and a widespread under-recognition of patients with risk factors for this disease. The traditional gold standard for diagnosing of narrowing of the artery lumen is X-ray angiography which is one of several invasive catheter-based techniques. These types of techniques can mainly, and at an advanced stage of disease, image the vessel lumen but not the cellular composition of an atherosclerotic plaque and cannot distinguish stable from unstable lesions. Recent research also shows increasing evidences that plaque composition of inflammatory cells rather than plaque size is related to the risk of plaque rupture. The need for new imaging techniques, able to early detect unstable atherosclerotic plaques with better precision and accuracy and to image the cellular components important for formation and progression of these plaques, are therefore of urgent importance.
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