ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the value of three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) gray scale median (GSM) in quantitative evaluation of the drug treatment of carotid plaques.Methods Eighty-one patients with 93 carotid plaques were enrolled from May 2015 to October 2015.Patients were received 3D-US,3.0T MRI and blood lipid examination including total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride (TG),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) before drug treatment.After atorvastatin therapy with a daily dose of 20mg for 6-12 months,3D-US and blood lipid examination were repeated,and 55 patients were followed successfully with a total of 62 plaques obtained.According to data acquired by MRI and 3D-US before treatment,the patients were divided into low-risk group,medium risk group,and high-risk group.The differences of GSM value and blood lipid levels were compared among groups and the changes of these parameters before and after the treatment in each group were compared.Results There was no significantly difference in serum TC,TG,LDL-C and HDL-C levels among the groups before treatment.After treatment,the serum TC and LDL-C levels were significantly lower than those before(P ＜0.05),the differences of TG and HDL-C levels were not significant,and the LDL-C level in high-risk group was significantly lower than those in other groups(P ＜0.05).The GSM values in of high-risk and medium-risk group were significantly increased after drug treatment than those of before (33.87 ± 6.53 vs 27.50 ± 7.82,47.35 ± 5.42 vs 44.56 ± 4.36,P ＜0.05),and had no significantly change in low risk group(62.01 ± 10.68 vs 63.13 ± 10.41,P ＞0.05).The difference of GSM between before and after treatment in each group was negatively correlated with the difference of LDL-C (r =-0.28,P =0.03).Conclusions Three-Dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) gray scale median (GSM) can be a reliable parameter in clinic quantitative evaluation drug treatment of carotid plaques,and has a better value especially for high-risk and medium-risk plaques.