ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the application of wall shear stress (WSS) in the carotid sinus of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients,and analyze the spatial distribution of WSS with contrast enhanced flow field (CEFF) quantita tive visualization analysis software.Methods Totally 47 T2DM patients and 25 healthy subjects were investigated.According to the intima-media thickness (IMT) of common carotid artery (CCA),the T2DM patients were divided into IMT normal group (n=21) and IMT thickening group (n=26).WSS in the carotid sinus was calculated by CEFF analysis soft ware,the corresponding spatial distribution maps of WSS were designed.WSS of the posterior wall of internal carotid artery (ICA) was recorded and statistical analysis.Results Both in the carotid sinus of healthy subjects and T2DM patients,there were two low WSS regions and one high WSS region.There were a large region of low WSS at the posterior wall of CCA and ICA,a small region of low WSS at the anterior wall of CCA,and a high WSS region at the anterior wall of ICA.The WSS at the posterior wall of ICA both in the IMT normal group [(3.39 ± 0.60)dynes/cm2] and IMT thickening group [(2.58±0.46)dynes/cm2] were significantly lower than that in control group ([3.74±0.53]dynes/cm2,both P＜0.05).WSS in IMT thickening group was lower than that in IMT normal group (P＜0.05).Conclusion CEFF quantitative visu alization analysis might constitute an approach to assess the presence of early-stage arteriosclerosis by measuring the WSS in the carotid sinus.