CT-angiography and Doppler ultrasonography in the evaluation of carotid artery stenosis: a comparative study

QJM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherif Mohamed Khalifa ◽  
Ahmed Moustafa Mohamed ◽  
Asmaa Magdy Salama

Abstract Background and purpose Management of carotid artery stenosis is primarily based on the degree of luminal narrowing. The aim of this study is to compare the results of carotid doppler ultrasound (US) and CT angiography (CTA) for grading of carotid stenosis and for plaque characterization in symptomatic patients. Methods This is a cross sectional study with a total number of 35 consecutive patients having 70 carotid arteries for comparison. Grading of carotid stenosis was based on the NASCET criteria for CTA and the carotid consensus panel criteria for US. Each investigator was blinded to the results of the other modality. Results The majority of patients were aged from 60 to 69 years with male to female ratio of 3:2. Males were more commonly affected than females. The most common presenting symptom was recent stroke. Risk factors included; diabetes mellites and hypertension. Atherosclerotic ischemic heart disease was a present association. The carotid bulb and proximal ICA were the most common location for carotid plaques. Kappa analysis with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) was utilized to determine US – CTA agreement. Both modalities showed overall good agreement (kappa = 0.63) and the concordance was better for moderate and higher grades of stenosis than for non-significant stenosis. The disagreement did not exceed one grade difference in our study sample. There was also good agreement as regards plaque morphology, while CTA was more sensitive than US in the detection of calcifications and plaque ulceration. Conclusion Doppler ultrasound when performed by an experienced sonographer can be used as a reliable first line modality for carotid stenosis grading and to categorize patients as medical and potentially surgical cases. CTA can be used as a confirmatory method for patients with borderline stenosis, for presurgical planning and for patients with suspected stenosis of the intracerebral circulation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 2514183X2110016
Author(s):  
Mandy D Müller ◽  
Leo H Bonati

Background: Carotid artery stenosis is an important cause for stroke. Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) reduces the risk of stroke in patients with symptomatic carotid stenosis and to some extent in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. More than 20 years ago, carotid artery stenting (CAS) emerged as an endovascular treatment alternative to CEA. Objective and Methods: This review summarises the available evidence from randomised clinical trials in patients with symptomatic as well as in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. Results: CAS is associated with a higher risk of death or any stroke between randomisation and 30 days after treatment than CEA (odds ratio (OR) = 1.74, 95% CI 1.3 to 2.33, p < 0.0001). In a pre-defined subgroup analysis, the OR for stroke or death within 30 days after treatment was 1.11 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.64) in patients <70 years old and 2.23 (95% CI 1.61 to 3.08) in patients ≥70 years old, resulting in a significant interaction between patient age and treatment modality (interaction p = 0.007). The combination of death or any stroke up to 30 days after treatment or ipsilateral stroke during follow-up also favoured CEA (OR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.85, p < 0.0001). In asymptomatic patients, there is a non-significant increase in death or stroke occurring within 30 days of treatment with CAS compared to CEA (OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.97, p = 0.05). The risk of peri-procedural death or stroke or ipsilateral stroke during follow-up did not differ significantly between treatments (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.84, p = 0.22). Discussion and Conclusion: In symptomatic patients, randomised evidence has consistently shown CAS to be associated with a higher risk of stroke or death within 30 days of treatment than CEA. This extra risk is mostly attributed to an increase in strokes occurring on the day of the procedure in patients ≥70 years. In asymptomatic patients, there may be a small increase in the risk of stroke or death within 30 days of treatment with CAS compared to CEA, but the currently available evidence is insufficient and further data from ongoing randomised trials are needed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 2809-2818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annet Waaijer ◽  
M. Weber ◽  
M. S. van Leeuwen ◽  
J. Kardux ◽  
W. B. Veldhuis ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 387
Author(s):  
Z Zhang ◽  
MH Berg ◽  
AEJ Ikonen ◽  
R Vanninen ◽  
HI Manninen

2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 494-497
Author(s):  
Dragoslav Nenezic ◽  
Slobodan Tanaskovic ◽  
Predrag Gajin ◽  
Nenad Ilijevski ◽  
Goran Vucurevic

Introduction. Multislice CT angiography (CTA) is a noninvasive and quick technique to image carotid artery stenosis, as well as intracerebral vasculature. Modern multidetector CTA produces images with a high resolution of, not only the contrast-filled lumen, but also of the vessel wall and the surrounding soft tissues. Multiple studies have verified the ability of CTA to provide an accurate representation of the degree of carotid stenosis in comparison to digital subtraction angiography, both for moderate and high-grade stenosis. Because of its fast and accurate vessel imaging, CT angiography is increasingly used in the assessment of carotid artery stenosis. Case Outline. A 37-year-old female patient was admitted at the Vascular Surgery Clinic of the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases 'Dedinje', Belgrade, for angiography and endovascular procedure of a high-grade stenosis of the left common carotid artery based on Multislice CT findings brought by the patient. She complained of problems which we considered to be the result of cerebral circulation ischemia. After detailed diagnostic procedures, we concluded that no pathological lesions could be verified either on the left common carotid artery or other supraaortic branches. Therefore, the patient was discharged for further neurological examinations. Conclusion. Although Multislice CTA has many advantages over classical angiography, its validity should be taken with reserve, especially in younger patients.


Author(s):  
Bonthu Mamatha Bharathi ◽  
Raveena Gullapalli

Background: Extra cranial carotid disease due to arteriosclerosis is usually associated with hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia. Extra cranial carotid stenosis has been found to be less prevalent in black American and in Egyptians while intracranial disease is far more common Various methods includes transcranial doppler (TCD) ultrasonography, cerebral angiography, computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).Methods: All patients with ischaemic stroke of acute onset admitted in the medical wards of Konaseema institute of medical sciences between June 2018 and January 2019 were included in the study. All patients were subjected to CT scan brain study and colour Doppler study of extra cranial carotid arteries and vertebral arteries. Systolic and diastolic velocity of blood flow, carotid intimal medial thickness, presence of athermanous plaque and thrombus was looked for and then the percentage of stenosis of the affected arteries was calculated.Results: In the present study 0ut of 23 patients with carotid stenosis 9 patients had mild carotid stenosis, 8 patients had moderate stenosis and 6 patients had severe stenosis. Out of 23 patients with carotid stenosis the 11 patients have stenosis in the right carotid and 12 patients had stenosis in the left side. The site of stenosis is ICA in 17 patients and CCA in 6 patients.Conclusions: In present study every patient with carotid artery stenosis had one or the other risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis. In other words, there was no patient with carotid artery stenosis, without any risk factor in present study. Hence asymptomatic patients with these risk factors should be screened for carotid stenosis to prevent stroke.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya Singh ◽  
Tom Stys ◽  
Valerie Bares ◽  
Jeffrey Wilson ◽  
Adam Stys

Introduction: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) has been found to be associated with coronary artery plaque burden and is a major predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) events. The data on its role in predicting carotid artery stenosis (CAS) is limited. Methods: Participants age ≥ 18 years with heart screen done from Nov 2008- Feb 2019 were selected and were assessed for documented diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis after their heart screen. Only the most recent heart screen per person and earliest documented CAS was considered. The chi-squared test and Welch’s 2-sample t-test was used to test for significant association between CAS and the nominal variables and mean calcium score respectively. Results: A total of 35,084 patient were screened for CAC score and 1439 (4.1%), were recorded to have a diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis. 53.5% being females and mean age of 63.69±9.31 years. The mean time between heart screen and documented diagnosis of CAS was 1529.4 ± 1211.0 days. The presence of CAS was significantly higher in patients ≥ 60 years (8.5%) as compared to those age <60 years (2%). There was a significant difference in mean CAC score between those with CAS as compared to non- carotid stenosis group (324.2, vs 107.27, p<.0001). In patient with elevated CAC ≥ 100, 9.98% had diagnosis of CAS, as compared to 2.82% in patients with CAC <100, however among patients with diagnosis of CAS 46.6% had elevated CAC ≥ 100. Conclusions: The presence of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) was significantly associated with elevated coronary artery calcium score (≥100) and was significantly higher in patients with age ≥ 60 years, which in correct clinical context is helpful in suspecting CAS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Bill ◽  
Dimitris Lambrou ◽  
Guillermo Toledo Sotomayor ◽  
Ivo Meyer ◽  
Patrik Michel ◽  
...  

Abstract Cervical and transcranial Doppler (TCD) are widely used as non-invasive methods in the evaluation of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. High-grade carotid artery stenosis induces haemodynamic changes such as collateral flow and a so-called post-stenotic flow pattern of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), which appears flattened, with a reduction of the velocity difference between systole and diastole. We studied the influence of carotid artery stenosis and other variables on the flow pattern in the MCA using the pulsatility index (PI), a quantitative TCD parameter reflecting the flow spectrum in a large of cohort AIS patients. We performed ultrasound examinations of 1825 AIS patients at the CHUV from October 2004 to December 2014. We extracted patient characteristics from the ASTRAL registry. Carotid stenosis severity was classified as < 50%, 50–70%, 70–90% and > 90%, or occlusion, according to Doppler velocity criteria. We first determined variables associated with stenosis grade. Then we performed a multivariate analysis after adjusting for baseline differences, using MCA PI as dependent variable. Carotid stenosis > 70% (− 0.07) and carotid stenosis > 90%, or occlusion (− 0.14) and left side (− 0.02) are associated with lower MCA PI values. Age (+0.006 PI units per decade), diabetes (+0.07), acute ischemic changes on initial CT (+0.03) and severe plaque morphology (+0.18) are associated with higher MCA PI values. We found a number of clinical and radiological conditions that significantly influence the PI of the MCA, including high-grade ipsilateral carotid stenosis in AIS patients. We provide for the first time a quantitative evaluation of the effect of these influencing factors from a large cohort of AIS patients.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Wang ◽  
Feng Xiao ◽  
Guangyao Wu ◽  
Jian Fang ◽  
Zhenmeng Sun ◽  
...  

Carotid artery stenosis without transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke is considered as “asymptomatic.” However, recent studies have demonstrated that these asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (aCAS) patients had cognitive impairment in tests of executive function, psychomotor speed, and memory, indicating that “asymptomatic” carotid stenosis may not be truly asymptomatic. In this study, when 19 aCAS patients compared with 24 healthy controls, aCAS patients showed significantly poorer performance on global cognition, memory, and executive function. By utilizing an integrated MRI including pulsed arterial spin labeling (pASL) MRI, Proton MR Spectroscopy (MRS), and resting-state functional MRI (R-fMRI), we also found that aCAS patients suffered decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) mainly in the Left Frontal Gyrus and had decreased NAA/Cr ratio in the left hippocampus and decreased connectivity to the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the anterior part of default mode network (DMN).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document