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Correlation Between Calcium, Water Contents and Ultrasonographic Appearance of Atherosclerotic Lesions of Carotid Artery Lesions

Overview

Overview

Journal Transl Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2020 Dec 18

PMID 33335767

Authors

Authors

Bela Fulesdi

Szabolcs Farkas

Zoltan Gyongyosi

Peter Siro

Daniel Bereczki

Jozsef Bacso

Laszlo Csiba

Affiliations

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: We tested the hypothesis whether there is a correlation between the echogenicity and calcium and water contents of carotid plaques.

Patients And Methods: Ninety carotid befurcations from 45 deceased patients were removed during autopsy. Thirty-four plaques were categorized as homogenous echolucent (HEL), homogenous echogenic (HEG) and heterogenous (HE) plaques based on premortem B-mode image. Water content was expressed in % of wet weight. Ca was determined by proton-induced X-ray emission and expressed in ppm. Relative optical density of the B-mode images was analyzed offline using a computer program.

Results: HEL plaques had lower Ca content (medians and IQRs: 6,145 [4,465-6,536 ppm]) compared to HEG (74,100 [15,300-1,44,500-ppm]), ≤ 0.001). HE plaques showed an intermediate calcium content (7,310 [4,840-9,920 ppm]) that was statistically not different from echolucent plaques. Water content of HEG plaques was statistically not different from HEL and HE (HEG:53.5 [35.5-64%], HEL: 73.5 [69.7-78.5%], HE: 70.6 [67.4-73.9%]). HEG plaques had the highest relative optical densities (196 [188-217%]). HEL and HE had similar relative optical densities (HEL: 176 [164-187%], HE: 164 [144-188%], respectively). A significant positive correlation was found between the Ca content and relative optical density of plaques.

Conclusions: Echogenicity of carotid plaques increases along with their calcium content. Water content may be an important factor in differentiation of different plaques.

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