Carotid Plaques Associated With Cerebral Ischemia: Findings In Health Assessment And Physical Examination Of 417 Aged

To investigate the relationship between the nature of carotid plaques and ischemic cerebrovascular disease through the assessing carotid ultrasound in the elderly (>60 years). Methods Individuals(>60 years) living in the same community who had attended in health assessment and physical examination were included in this retrospective research. A total of 417 community-dwelling subjects were recruited. 244 subjects of cerebral infarction and 23 subjects of recurrent TIA were taken as the group of ischemic cerebrovascular disease, and another 150 healthy subjects were taken as the control group. All subjects were grouped based on history, physical examination and imaging of CT and/or MRI. Carotid duplex ultrasonographic assessment was performed in all subjects to determine the ultrasonographic correlates of unstable carotid plaque and cerebrovascular disease. Detailed analyses of carotid plaques included nature, distribution, number, shape and echo characteristics. Results The detection rate of unstable plaque was 83.5% in the cerebrovascular disease group and 52.7% in the control group. The former was significantly higher than the latter (p<0.01). Conclusion Unstable carotid plaque, as assessed with carotid duplex ultrasonography, is related to the presence of ischemic cerebrovascular disease. These findings encourage further prospective studies in asymptomatic subjects focused on echographic carotid plaque characteristics as predictors of subsequent TIA or stroke.