摘要 |
Vascular diseases including asymptomatic atherosclerosis can be diagnosed by administering a conjugate diagnostic reagent to a patient and then detecting the location and concentration of the conjugate reagent within the patient's vascular system. The conjugate reagents have a target-seeking, biologically active molecule as one component and a labeling means capable of extracorporeal detection as the other component. The biologically active molecules (BAMs) are chosen to have affinity for structural elements of the arterial wall which are either not present in the normal wall but are found in atherosclerotic or arteritic lesions, or which are not available to the blood-borne reagent within normal arterial walls, but are exposed to the reagent in atherosclerotic or arteritic lesions. |