The Accuracy of Noninvasive Imaging Techniques in Diagnosis of Carotid Plaque Morphology

Abstract

BACKGROUND:The stroke is leading cause of death and severe disability worldwide. Atherosclerosis is responsible for over 30% of all ischemic strokes. It has been recently discovered that plaque morphology may help predict the clinical behavior of carotid atherosclerosis and determine the risk of stroke. The noninvasive imaging techniques have been developed to evaluate the vascular wall in an attempt to identify “vulnerable plaques”.AIM:The purpose is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound, multidetector computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in the identification of plaque components associated with plaque vulnerability.MATERIAL AND METHODS:One hundred patients were admitted for carotid endarterectomy for high grade carotid stenosis. We defined the diagnostic value of B-mode ultrasound of carotid plaque in a half, and the accuracy of multidetector computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, in the other group, for detection of unstable carotid plaque. The reference standard was histology.RESULTS:Sensitivity of ultrasound, multidetector computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging is 94%, 83% and 100%, and the specificity is 93%, 73% and 89% for detection of unstable carotid plaque.CONCLUSION:The ultrasound has high accuracy for diagnostics of carotid plaque morphology, magnetic resonance imaging has high potential for tissue differentiation and multidetector computed tomography determines precisely degree of stenosis and presence of ulceration and calcifications. The three noninvasive imaging modalities are complementary for optimal evaluation of the morphology of carotid plaque. This will help to determine the risk of stroke and to decide on the best treatment – carotid endarterectomy or carotid stenting.

A Prospective Comparative Evaluation of Extra Cranial Vessels by Contrast Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography Versus Colour Doppler in Patient with Stroke

“…This finding corroborates with the work of Polak et al 18 Regarding comparison of two modalities in the evaluation of thrombosis, abnormality found were equal in both group. This finding corroborates with the finding of lukanova et al 19…”

Association between lipid profiles and presence of carotid plaque

“…Last, we used ultrasound to assess the presence of plaque, which may be less reliable than the high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT). However, one study investigating the accuracy of ultrasound, CT, and MRI in diagnosis of carotid plaque morphology found that ultrasound has higher accuracy for diagnostics of carotid plaque morphology than CT or MRI 29 . In addition, compared with CT or MRI, ultrasound is safe, noninvasive, and inexpensive 30 .…”

Prevalence and cardiovascular risk factors of carotid plaque in rural-dwelling adults: a population-based study in Shandong, China

“…Carotid plaque was detected by ultrasonography examination which has been proved to have high sensitivity and speci city [12]. The measurement and assessment of CP have been described in detail previously [11].…”