Detecting the vulnerable carotid plaque: the Carotid Artery Multimodality imaging Prognostic study design.

BACKGROUND: Carotid artery disease is highly prevalent and a main cause of ischemic stroke and vascular dementia. There is a paucity of information on predictors of serious vascular events. Besides percentage diameter stenosis, international guidelines also recommend the evaluation of qualitative characteristics of carotid artery disease as a guide to treatment, but with no agreement on which qualitative features to assess. This inadequate knowledge leads to a poor ability to identify patients at risk, dispersion of medical resources, and unproven use of expensive and resource-consuming techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and computed tomography. OBJECTIVES: The Carotid Artery Multimodality imaging Prognostic (CAMP) study will: prospectively determine the best predictors of silent and overt ischemic stroke and vascular dementia in patients with asymptomatic subcritical carotid artery disease by identifying the noninvasive diagnostic features of the 'vulnerable carotid plaque'; assess whether 'smart' use of low-cost diagnostic methods such as ultrasound-based evaluations may yield at least the same level of prospective information as more expensive techniques. STUDY DESIGN: We will compare the prognostic/predictive value of all proposed techniques with regard to silent or clinically manifest ischemic stroke and vascular dementia. The study will include ≥300 patients with asymptomatic, unilateral, intermediate degree (40-60% diameter) common or internal carotid artery stenosis detected at carotid ultrasound, with a 2-year follow-up. The study design has been registered on Clinicaltrial.gov on December 17, 2020 (ID number NCT04679727).

Comparison of experienced and inexperienced operators on bond strengths of total-etch and self-etch bonding systems.

PURPOSE: To compare a two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive system and a one-step self-etch adhesive system in order to evaluate the influence of clinical experience on dentin bond strength. METHODS: 24 human molars were sectioned to obtain two 1 mm-thick slabs of mid-coronal dentin. Both surfaces of one of the two slabs that were obtained from each tooth were treated with a two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive (OptiBond Solo Plus), while both surfaces of the other slab were treated with a one-step self-etch adhesive (OptiBond All-In-One). 24 undergraduate, second-year students applied the adhesive on one of the two surfaces of each slab (Student group), while 12 dentists with experience in adhesive restorative dentistry (Expert group) applied the same adhesive on the other surface of the slab. Nine conical frustum-shaped resin composite (Premise Flowable) build-ups, whose smaller base was bonded to the dentin surface, were constructed on both surfaces of each dentin slab using a custom-made device. After thermocycling, specimens were subjected to microshear bond strength test. Data were analyzed by a multilevel statistical model. RESULTS: The interaction term Experience x Adhesive resulted statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The bond strength (MPa) resulting from the self-etch adhesive was similar in the Student (27.8 +/- 9.0) and in the Expert group (26.5 +/- 7.0). The etch-and-rinse adhesive bond strength within the Student group (23.6 +/- 10.4) was lower than that within the Expert group (28.1 +/- 8.9).