Summary
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 atherosc
