Evaluation of Arteriosclerotic Changes in the Intracranial Carotid Artery Using the Calcium Score Obtained on Plain Cranial Computed Tomography Scan

Abstract

There were a positive correlation between calcium scores on CT and angiographic changes of arteriosclerosis in the siphon as well as bifurcation, indicating angiographic changes can be predicted using calcium scores. However, the degree of calcification in the siphon cannot be used to predict the possibility of a future cerebral stroke.

The Relation of Carotid Calcium Volume with Carotid Artery Stenosis in Symptomatic Patients

“…Because our results indicate that for symptomatic patients, there is no relation between the degree of stenosis and the severity of stenosis, this finding may support the idea of soft atherosclerotic plaques being more of a risk for stroke than hard calcified plaques, [13][14][15][16] which are associated with plaque stability, and supports the premise that (nonsubendothelial) plaque calcification is associated with plaque stability. This idea is supported by the fact that the occluded arteries had an average calcium volume score of only 0.04 mL.…”

Intracranial Internal Carotid Artery Calcifications: Association with Vascular Risk Factors and Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease

“…In addition, in 2 cross-sectional studies, 8,9 they found that intracranial internal carotid artery calcifications were not independently related to the extent of white matter lesions or the presence of stroke. In a follow-up study of 72 patients, Taoka et al 13 did not find an association between the intracranial internal carotid artery calcifications score and the later occurrence of stroke. Therefore, they concluded that intracranial calcifications should not be considered as the cause of an ischemic event by being a source of embolism or thrombosis, but they should be considered as a marker of systemic atherosclerotic disease, which is closely related to stroke.…”

“…Consequently, previous studies made use of a qualitative grading system. [8][9][10][11][12] Although Taoka et al 13 used commercially available software to assess the Agatston score of intracranial calcifications, they had to eliminate the contamination of bone attenuation on wide-windowed CT images. We developed custom-made software for quantification of intracranial calcifications.…”

“…Taoka et al 13 were able to use commercially available software for quantification of intracranial calcifications, but they had to eliminate the contamination of bone attenuation on wide-windowed CT images. We dealt with this problem by developing a custom-made software tool that allowed manual segmentation of intracranial calcifications without contamination of the bony skull, and we assessed the volume of calcifications instead of the Agatston score.…”

“…13,20 Stenosis in the intracranial internal carotid artery carries an increased risk of stroke. 21,22 Therefore, we compared the volume of calcifications in the symptomatic and asymptomatic internal carotid arteries; however, no difference in intracranial calcium volume was found between the symptomatic and asymptomatic side.…”