Assessment of carotid plaque neovascularization by contrast-enhanced ultrasound and high sensitivity C-reactive protein test in patients with acute cerebral infarction: a comparative study
Assessment of carotid plaque neovascularization by contrast-enhanced ultrasound and high sensitivity C-reactive protein test in patients with acute cerebral infarction: a comparative study
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DOI：
10.1007/s10072-016-2557-2
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发表时间：
2016-03
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Rong Xu;Xiaohua Yin;Weixin Xu;Lin Jin;Min Lu;Ying-chun Wang
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Rong Xu;Xiaohua Yin;Weixin Xu;Lin Jin;Min Lu;Ying-chun Wang
脆弱的颈动脉斑块很容易破裂，引发脑梗塞。斑块炎症和新生血管形成均被证明是易损斑块的重要特征。我们使用对比增强超声评估了急性脑梗塞患者颈动脉斑块内的新生血管形成，并使用高灵敏度 C 反应蛋白 (hs-CRP) 测试评估了炎症。共有 106 名急性脑梗塞患者和 40 名对照者参加了该研究。所有受试者先前均发现有颈动脉粥样硬化斑块，并使用颈动脉超声将斑块分为软斑块、硬斑块、混合斑块和钙化斑块。对斑块进行超声造影进行定量分析并测量 hs-CRP 水平。结果显示，81.1% 的脑梗塞患者和 40.0% 的对照组存在斑块增强。脑梗死患者的对比参数与对照组有显着差异。对于脑梗死患者，软斑块的增强百分比最高，为 95.1%，对比参数与其他类型斑块有显着差异。增强型脑梗死患者hs-CRP水平高于非增强型患者。脑梗死患者的相关性分析显示hs-CRP水平与造影参数密切相关。急性脑梗死患者颈动脉斑块呈现强烈的造影增强和炎症反应，不同类型的斑块有不同程度的强化，提示超声造影和hs-CRP可能可用于斑块风险分层。
Vulnerable carotid plaque easily ruptures and causes cerebral infarction. Plaque inflammation and neovascularization have both been shown as important characteristics in vulnerable plaque. We assessed neovascularization within carotid plaque using contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and also assessed inflammation, using high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) testing, in acute cerebral infarction patients. A total of 106 patients with acute cerebral infarction and 40 controls were enrolled in the study. All subjects had been previously found to have carotid atherosclerotic plaques, and the plaques were classified as soft plaque, hard plaque, mixed plaque, and calcified plaque, using carotid artery ultrasound. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound was performed on the plaques for quantitative analysis and hs-CRP levels were measured. The results showed that plaque enhancement was present in 81.1 % of cerebral infarction patients and 40.0 % of controls. The contrast parameters for cerebral infarction patients were significantly different from controls. For cerebral infarction patients, soft plaque showed the highest enhanced percentage, 95.1 %, with contrast parameters significantly different to other types of plaque. The hs-CRP levels of enhanced cerebral infarction patients were higher than in non-enhanced patients. Correlation analysis in cerebral infarction patients showed that hs-CRP levels were closely related to the contrast parameters. Acute cerebral infarction patients showed intense contrast enhancement and inflammation in carotid plaque, and different types of plaque had various degrees of enhancement, suggesting that contrast-enhanced ultrasound and hs-CRP might be used for plaque risk stratification.