BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Recent research has suggested the importance of plaque composition to identify patients at risk for stroke. This study aims to identify specific plaque features on 3T carotid MR imaging and CE-MRA associated with recent carotid thromboembolic symptoms in patients with mild/moderate versus severe stenosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety-seven consecutive patients (symptoma...

A 62-year-old man was admitted after recurrent transient left-sided weakness and sensory loss. Ultrasound (US) examination revealed a 70% narrowing of the right proximal internal carotid artery (ICA). Contrast-enhanced US suggested plaque neovascularization (figure, A). Carotid endarterectomy of the right ICA was performed. Immunohistochemistry of the specimen showed, corresponding to the US fi...

Objective. To investigate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] levels and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) as well as carotid atherosclerotic plaque in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods. 314 patients with T2DM were enrolled in this study. The clinical data and laboratory examinations of subjects were recorded, such as serum 25(OH)D3, hemoglobin...

conclusions according to the results, there were no significant and meaningful differences comparing acs and csa groups of patients by ecds using three indicators of stenosis, plaque morphology and imt as indicators of atherosclerosis. results also display that patients with acs had more stenosis, more plaque and thicker intima–media, but these differences were not statistically significant (p ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Carotid artery-related stroke is largely an embolic disease that has been correlated with inflammation, plaque rupture, and thrombus formation in "vulnerable" atherosclerotic plaque. Nevertheless, current guidelines for carotid revascularization in asymptomatic patients rely on the calculation of stenosis for risk assessment, a parameter that has been viewed with increasi...

OBJECTIVE Matrix metalloproteinases are inflammatory biomarkers involved in carotid plaque instability. Our objective was to analyze the inflammatory activity of plasma and carotid plaque MMP-8 and MMP-9 after intravenous administration of hydrocortisone. METHODS The study included 22 patients with stenosis ≥ 70% in the carotid artery (11 symptomatic and 11 asymptomatic) who underwent carotid...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Atherosclerotic disease of the carotid artery is an important cause of ischemic stroke. We evaluated carotid plaque morphologic features by using CTA in addition to stenosis in the setting of symptomatic hemispheric TIA/stroke to identify factors that may predict plaque activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Six hundred seventy-three patients (408 men; ages, 18-91 years; mean,...

BACKGROUND Exposure to cadmium has been associated with carotid plaques, inflammation in carotid plaques, and increased risk of ischemic stroke. This study examined the separate and interacting effects of blood cadmium levels and carotid plaques on the risk of incident ischemic stroke. METHODS AND RESULTS Cadmium levels were measured in 4156 subjects (39.2% men; mean±SD age 57.3±5.9 years) wi...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether within-visit blood pressure (BP) variability based on three measurements over minutes is associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque in a general population. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was performed in 2007, and a total of 1222 Beijing community residents aged 50-79 years belonging to part of the Chinese Multi-Provincial Coho...

BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic plaques in carotid arteries can be characterized in-vivo by multicontrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), which has been thoroughly validated with histology. However, the non-quantitative nature of multicontrast CMR and the need for extensive post-acquisition interpretation limit the widespread clinical application of in-vivo CMR plaque characterization. Quan...