Clinical relevance of gemstone spectral CT in the diagnosis of carotid atherosclerosis.

ABSTRACT

A variety of imaging methods can be used in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic plaques. In the present study, we investigated the morphology and composition of atherosclerotic plaque associated with ischemic cerebral infarction by comparing gemstone spectral computed tomography (GSCT) and traditional multi-slice CT (MSCT). In total, 200 patients were enrolled and divided into the experimental group (n=100), which underwent GSCT, and the control group (n=100), which underwent MSCT. All the cases were followed up to observe disease outcomes in patients with different atherosclerotic plaque types, and adverse events in carotid artery stenosis or cerebral infarction were recorded. Compared with traditional MSCT, sensitivity (93.2%), specificity (84.5%), and accuracy (91.0%) of GSCT were significantly higher. We found a correlation between vulnerable plaque of carotid atherosclerotic plaque and the occurrence of cerebral infarction. These results suggest the advantages of GSCT in analyzing atherosclerotic plaque and predicting the risk of ischemic cerebral infarction.