Relationship between vulnerability of carotid artery plaques evaluated by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and the prognosis of cerebral infarction / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Seventy two patients with initial cerebral infarction admitted in the Second Hospital of Jiaxing from March 2017 to October 2017 were enrolled. Patients underwent conventional ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for two-dimensional echo grading and neovascularization grading of carotid artery plaques respectively. There were 113 carotid plaques in 72 patients with cerebral infarction,27 cases recurred after 1 years with 44 patches. The echo grading of recurrence group was mainly grade Ⅰ and grade Ⅱ,the number of Ⅰ,Ⅱ,and Ⅲ plaques was 23,18,and 3,respectively. The echo grading of non-recurrence group was mainly grade Ⅲ,the number of Ⅰ,Ⅱ,and Ⅲ plaques was 36,23,and 40,respectively. The echo grading of carotid artery plaque between the two groups was significantly different (P<0.05). The grade of carotid neovascularization in recurrence group was mainly grade Ⅲ and grade Ⅳ,the number of Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ plaques was 2,5,27 and 10,respectively. The echo grading of non-recurrence group was mainly grade Ⅰ and grade Ⅱ,the number of Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ plaques was 24,52,14 and 9,respectively. There was significant difference in the grade of carotid neovascularization between the two groups (P<0.05). The area under curve(AUC) of echo grade<Ⅱ,echo grade<Ⅲ,neovascularization grade>Ⅰ,neovascularization grade>Ⅱ and neovascularization grade>Ⅲ in predicting the recurrence of cerebral infarction were 0.553,0.641,0.587,0.793 and 0.557,respectively,the AUC of neovascularization grade>Ⅱ was significantly higher than the other four criteria (P<0.01). The recurrence curves of carotid plaques with different neovascularization grades were significantly different (χ2=49.18,P<0.01). Carotid plaque vulnerability evaluated by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is an effective indicator for predicting recurrence of cerebral infarction.