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Evaluation of the stability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque with contrast-enhanced ultrasound

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to determine the stability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque (CAP) using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

Methods

CEUS images of 93 patients were evaluated to observe new vessels within CAPs. Microembolic signals (MES) were detected using transcranial Doppler (TCD). Thirty-four patients with hyperechoic plaques were evaluated as the control group.

Results

Eighty percent (75/93) of plaques showed contrast enhancement on CEUS, including 50.7 % (38/75) of hypoechoic plaques and 49.3 % (37/75) of mixed echoic plaques. No plaques in the control group showed enhancement on CEUS. With TCD, 35.5 % (33/93) of patients were positive for MES. Plaques with grade 2 or 3 enhancement on CEUS had a higher positive rate for MES. Forty-one patients with grade 2 or 3 enhancement on CEUS presented with fresh infarctions confirmed by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Conclusions

In conclusion, grade 2 or 3 contrast enhancement observed on CEUS indicated vulnerable plaques.

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Acknowledgments

Contract grant sponsor: Science and Technology Development Projects of Jilin Province (major project) (contract grant number: 20110485) and Health Department Projects of Jilin Province (contract grant number: 2011Z065).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, 71# Xinming Street, 130021, Changchun, China

    Xiao-Feng Sun, Jun Wang, Xiao-Li Wu & Hui-Ying Xu

  2. Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, 130021, Changchun, China

    Ying-Qi Xing

  3. International Health Promotion Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, 130021, Changchun, China

    Fang Yang

Authors
  1. Xiao-Feng Sun
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  2. Jun Wang
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  3. Xiao-Li Wu
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  4. Hui-Ying Xu
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  5. Ying-Qi Xing
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  6. Fang Yang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiao-Feng Sun.

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Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest in connection with this paper.

Ethical considerations

All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. The study protocol was approved by our hospital ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained from all study participants prior to the ultrasound examination.

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Sun, XF., Wang, J., Wu, XL. et al. Evaluation of the stability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque with contrast-enhanced ultrasound. J Med Ultrasonics 43, 71–76 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-015-0647-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-015-0647-z

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