This is a two-center five-year prospective observational study examining the effect of PTSD on vascular inflammation, proliferation, and plaque burden. The study centers will be BMEII at Mount Sinai and the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH. This project will include two study visits: one screening visit and one imaging visit, to be completed in two different days and within 4 weeks apart.
Three groups of individuals will be recruited:
- Group 1 includes diagnosed PTSD subjects from at least 1 year prior to enrollment
- Group 2 (trauma control group) includes control subjects who have been exposed to trauma without developing PTSD symptoms from at least 1 year prior to enrollment
- Group 3 (healthy control group) individuals who have neither PTSD nor exposure to trauma
STRIVE (Stress and Trauma: Impact on Cardiovascular Disease) 