Hyperintense plaque coexisting with positive remodeling in stenotic middle cerebral artery may be associated with cerebral infarction mechanism / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the association between plaque vulnerability characteristics and infarction sub-types in patients with acute unilateral anterior circulation cerebral infarction due to intracranial atherosclerotic disease.Methods:A total of 58 eligible patients who underwent intracranial high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) were finally enrolled in the retrospective study from December 2018 to December 2020. In the current study, all patients were classified into the group with artery-to-artery (A-to-A) embolic infarction ( n=32) and the group without ( n=26), according to infarction sub-types on diffusion-weighted imaging. Baseline information, the presence/absence of hyperintense plaque, irregular plaque surface, remodeling pattern and quadrant distribution by HRMRI were collected and evaluated. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between plaque vulnerability and infarction sub-types. Furthermore, the analysis of interaction between hyperintense plaque and positive remodeling in response to A-to-A embolism was visualized by Sankey diagram. Results:The presence of hyperintense plaque ( OR=3.90, 95% CI 1.21-12.59, P=0.023) and arterial remodeling patterns (positive remodeling vs intermediate state, OR=4.32, 95% CI 0.86-21.49, P for trend=0.027) were the strong independent predictors for A-to-A embolism. Importantly, a significantly positive synergy between the remodeling pattern and hyperintense plaque in response to infarction sub-types was found by Sankey diagram ( Wald=10.044, P for interaction=0.007). Similarly, in receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the discrimination of hyperintense plaque combined with positive remodeling for A-to-A embolism was significantly superior to that of either biomarker alone (area under the curve=0.710, 95% CI 0.576-0.845, P=0.006). Conclusion:A synergistic effect between positive remodeling and hyperintense plaque can promote plaque vulnerability, suggesting a potential target sub-population may benefit from stroke prevention with intensive antithrombotic therapy, although this must be confirmed in future.