Ultrasound densitometry analysis of human carotid plaque components / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To correlate the ultrasound imaging of atherosclerotic carotid in vivo and in vitro with the histological analysis, and to evaluate the usefulness of gray scale ultrasound densitometry analysis of ultrasound images. Methods Twenty-two carotid plaque lesions of 20 patients were examined by high resolution B-mode ultrasound pre- and post operatively, and the images of carotid plaque were quantitatively analyzed by 256 gray scale ultrasound densitometry. The transverse pathological sections of the plaques were made, and matched and compared with the images of ultrasound. Results Ultrasound density measurement of calcium, fibrous tissue, hemorrhage / thrombus and lipid deposits was 89?12, 53?8, 37?6, and 39?3 respectively in vivo, and was 168?11, 136?12, 85?12 and 89?10 respectively in vitro. Besides the comparison between hemorrhage and lipid deposits, there were significant statistic differences of density measurement between different components. Conclusions Gray scale ultrasound densitometry analysis can provide quantitative measurement of atherosclerotic carotid plaque, and is useful for evaluate the stability of the plaque.