Comparison of Carotid Atherosclerotic Plaque Characteristics by High-Resolution Black-Blood MR Imaging between Patients with First-Time and Recurrent Acute Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It has been shown that patients with a first ischemic stroke are at high risk of developing recurrent stroke due to carotid atherosclerotic plaque rupture. However, no one has defined the difference in plaques between initial and recurrent stroke. This study sought to investigate the characteristics of carotid plaque between patients with first-time and recurrent acute ischemic stroke by using MR imaging.

Extracranial Carotid Atherosclerosis and Acute Ischemic Stroke in a Tertiary Hospital in Burkina Faso

“…Recurrent ischemic stroke in patients with carotid plaque was significantly aggravated compared with those in patients who have experienced one stroke [9].…”

Characterization of Carotid Plaque Components by Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping

“…V ulnerable atherosclerotic plaques in carotid arteries are obviously correlated with cerebrovascular ischemic events such as ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attacks. 1,2 The characteristics of vulnerable plaques are intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), lipid-rich necrotic cores, thin fibrous caps, and, to a lesser extent, plaque calcification. 2 IPH in the carotid artery is related to an increased risk of plaque rupture; it plays a critical role in stratifying the risk of future events in patients with carotid atherosclerosis.…”

Optimal MR Plaque Imaging for Cervical Carotid Artery Stenosis in Predicting the Development of Microembolic Signals during Exposure of Carotid Arteries in Endarterectomy: Comparison of 4 T1-Weighted Imaging Techniques

“…12 However, there has been inconsistency among published findings on vulnerable plaques. 15 This could be due to interinstitutional differences in the methodology for such imaging techniques as cardiac-gated black-blood fast spin-echo (BB-FSE), [16][17][18][19] magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition of gradient echo, 12,[20][21][22] source image of 3D time-of-flight MR angiography (SI-MRA), 23 and noncardiac-gated spin-echo (SE). 15,24,25 Although the cardiac-gated BB-FSE method is most commonly used for T1-weighted MR plaque imaging, 17,18 the TR is dependent on a single R-R interval from electrocardiography, which occasionally results in an overly long TR to diminish proton density-weighted contrast and to enhance T1-weighted contrast.…”