Associations between preprocedural carotid artery perivascular fat density and early in-stent restenosis after carotid artery stenting.

Objectives: This study investigated the association between perivascular fat density (PFD) via preoperative computed tomographic angiography (CTA) and early in-stent restenosis (ISR) after carotid artery stenting (CAS).

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 248 consecutive patients who had undergone initial CAS and received a preoperative cervical CTA examination between January 2019 and October 2020. The patients were categorized into two according to whether they sustained ISR during the 2 years postoperative follow-up period. Correlations between PFD and ISR were assessed, and multivariate regression for evaluating predictors of ISR was conducted. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the cutoff value for the PFD.

Results: A total of 181 eligible patients (mean age 61.25 ± 10.35 years, 57 male) were enrolled. The ISR group had a higher proportion of closed-cell stents (48.8% versus 27.5%;  = 0.009) and a greater degree of residual stenosis (28[20,33] % versus 20[14.75,30] %;  < 0.001) than the non-ISR group. The ISR group had a higher mean HU value of PFD than the non-ISR group on the operated side (-42.26 ± 6.81 versus -59.66 ± 10.75;  < 0.001). The degree of residual stenosis (OR 1.146, 95%CI 1.071-1.226,  < 0.001) and PFD on the operated side (OR1.353, 95%CI 1.215-1.506,  < 0.001) were significantly associated with the ISR.

Conclusions: The occurrence of the early ISR after CAS is associated with a higher PFD on the operated side. The results indicate that PFD is a promising marker to predict the ISR after CAS.