Diagnostic Performance of Atherosclerotic Carotid Plaque Neovascularization with Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Objectives. To evaluate the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization. Methods. The electronic databases like PubMed, Embase, OVID, and Web of Science were used to search for the relevant studies, which are involved in the evaluation of the diagnostic parameters of QUS for atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization. Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 14.0 were used to estimate the pooled diagnostic value of CEUS. Forest plots, sensitivity analysis, and Deeks’ funnel plots were performed on the included studies. Results. Ten studies eventually met the final inclusion criteria. For diagnostic performance, CUES showed that the pooled values of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood odds ratios, negative likelihood odds ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios were 0.83 (95% CI 0.78-0.86), 0.77 (95% CI 0.68-0.84), 3.61 (95% CI 2.59-5.03), 0.23 (95% CI 0.18-0.28), and 16.02 (95% CI 10.02-25.60), respectively. The estimate of the area under curve (AUC) was 0.85 (95% CI 0.82-0.88). Conclusion. Our research supported that CEUS had high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization. More high-quality prospective multicenter studies focusing on the accuracy of CEUS for carotid atherosclerotic plaque should be performed to verify our conclusions.

What Is the Added Value of Carotid CEUS in the Characterization of Atherosclerotic Plaque?

“…Subjective factors and operator experience had a great influence on the visual score of neovascularization in plaque. Also, there is a limitation due to patient appearance—limited penetration depth, which may be a challenge in obese patients [ 7 , 31 , 32 ].…”

“…Recently, many studies have shown that the CEUS method can significantly improve the imaging effect of IPN. Dong et al concluded that CEUS had high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization [ 7 ]. A study by Huang et al shows that there is a correlation between the grade of plaque enhancement and the risk of ischemic stroke.…”

Transient Perivascular Inflammation of the Carotid Artery (TIPIC): Vascular Ultrasonography Role

“…Adventitia may not be clear in TIPIC cases, but tissue characterization can separate homogeneous TIPIC findings from heterogeneous findings suggestive of atherosclerotic plaque. There is also the prospect of using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to investigate TIPIC findings, just as CEUS has been promising for the detection of flow on Doppler arising from neovascularization within carotid plaques 2,6 and also in cases of carotid membranes. 7…”

“…Fanilda Souto Barros, 1 Simone Nascimento dos Santos, 2 Daniela Souto Barros, 3,4 Sérgio Salles Cunha, 5 Ana Lopes Albricker, 6 Ana Cláudia Gomes Petisco 3 Angiolab Laboratório Vascular, 1 Vitório, ES -Brazil ECCOS Diagnóstico Cardiovascular, 2 Brasília, DF -Brazil Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia, 3 São Paulo, SP -Brazil Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças, 4 Curitiba, PR -Brazil Society of Vascular Ultrasound, 5 Jacksonville, FL -United States Instituto Imede de Ultrassom, 6 Belo Horizonte, MG -Brazil Transient Perivascular Inflammation of the Carotid Artery (TIPIC syndrome) is a rare and underdiagnosed condition. In this article, we describe a case of TIPIC syndrome, including topics such as clinical evaluation, indication and findings of vascular ultrasonography (VUS), treatment and follow-up, with a brief review of the literature.…”

Retracted: Diagnostic Performance of Atherosclerotic Carotid Plaque Neovascularization with Contrast‐Enhanced Ultrasound: A Meta‐Analysis

“…This article has been retracted by Hindawi, as publisher, following an investigation undertaken by the publisher [ 1 ]. This investigation has uncovered evidence of systematic manipulation of the publication and peer-review process.…”