AI Article Synopsis

  • Atherosclerosis is influenced by a variety of factors, and this study focused on the differences in carotid plaque vulnerability between sides in patients with bilateral carotid plaques (BCPs) using magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging (MR-VWI).
  • The analysis included 540 patients and revealed that the left carotid artery had larger lumen and wall areas, along with a higher prevalence of lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) compared to the right carotid artery.
  • The findings suggest that asymmetries in plaque characteristics, particularly in the left carotid artery, could play a role in the development of ischaemic stroke in the brain.

Article Abstract

Background And Purpose: Atherosclerosis is a very complex process influenced by various systemic and local factors. Therefore, in patients with bilateral carotid plaques (BCPs), there may be differences in carotid plaque vulnerability between the sides. We aimed to investigate the differences in BCP characteristics in patients with BCPs using magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging (MR-VWI).

Methods: Participants with BCPs were selected for subanalysis from a multicentre study of Chinese Atherosclerosis Risk Evaluation II. We measured carotid plaque burden, identified each plaque component and measured their volume or area bilaterally on MR-VWI. Paired comparisons of the burden and components of BCPs were performed.

Results: In all, 540 patients with BCPs were eligible for analysis. Compared with the right carotid artery (CA), larger mean lumen area (p<0.001), larger mean wall area (p=0.025), larger mean total vessel area (p<0.001) and smaller normalised wall index (p=0.006) were found in the left CA. Regarding plaque components, only the prevalence of lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) in the left CA was higher (p=0.026). For patients with a vulnerable plaque component coexisting on both sides, only the intraplaque haemorrhage (IPH) volume (p=0.011) was significantly greater in the left CA than in the right CA.

Conclusions: There were asymmetries in plaque growth and evolution between BCPs. The left carotid plaques were more likely to have larger plaque burden, higher prevalence of LRNC and greater IPH volume, which may contribute to the lateralisation of ischaemic stroke in the cerebral hemispheres.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512039PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/svn-2022-001937DOI Listing

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