Carotid plaque components assessment by high-resolution MRI in patients with symptomatic ischemic stroke
CUI Zhenjie
WANG Wei
ZHANG Yuanli
JIANG Huijie
LIU Pengfei
Abstract：Objective To study the risk of different components of carotid plaque in patients with symptomatic ischemic stroke by using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging(HRMRI).Methods Fifty cases with carotid plaques were screened by ultrasound examination from January 2016 to June 2017.Among these patients,21 women and 29 men,age range 43~77 years old,average 61.62±7.96 years.Depending on whether presence of symptoms which were associated with corresponding carotid artery during the last 3 months,the patients were divided into the symptomatic group(22 cases,number of arteries with plaques=40)and the asymptomatic group(28 cases,number of arteries with plaques=50).The 3.0 T HRMRI was used to evaluate the carotid artery blood vessel and plaque compositions for all patients. The clinical data, plaque compositions,and the degree of vascular stenosis of the 2 groups were compared by t test or Chi-square test.The independent risk factors of ischemic symptoms were analyzed by logistic regression.Results The fibrous cap rupture(FCR)of plaque was detected in 15 arteries(37.5%)in the symptom group,in 8 arteries(16.0%)in the asymptomatic group.The incidence of FCR(37.5% vs. 16.0%; P<0.05)was significantly higher in the symptomatic than asymptomatic patients. Intraplaque hemorrhage(IPH)was detected in 21 arteries(52.5%)in the symptomatic group;in 15 arteries(30.0%)in the asymptomatic group,, the IPH in the symptomatic group was significantly more than that in the asymptomatic group(P<0.05). Plaque calcification was detected in 15 arteries(37.5%)in the symptom group,in 13 arteries(26.0%)in the asymptomatic group.The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant(P>0.05).The degree of vascular stenosis was 57.64%±13.36% in the symptomatic group and 53.86% ±11.19% in the asymptomatic group,The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant(P=0.148).The multivariate analysis of logistic regression model showed that FCR had the highest risk of symptomatic ischemic stroke(OR=3.012),and followed by IPH(OR=2.478).Conclusion HRMRI can effectively identify plaque compositions,and can evaluate the risk factors for the occurrence of clinical symptoms in ischemic stroke and plaque vulnerability.
Keywords：Carotid arteryAtherosclerotic plaqueIschemic strokeMagnetic resonance imaging
Publication Date：2018-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 290-293 )