Correlation Between Neovascularization in Femoral Artery Plaque and Cerebral Infarction Detected by Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound / 中国医学影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Purpose To evaluate the correlation between neovascularization in femoral artery plaque and cerebral infarction by using contrast enhanced ultrasound,and to assess the predictive value of femoral artery plaque stability in cerebral infarction and its clinical significance.Materials and Methods Sixty-two patients with femoral artery hypoechoic plaques were retrospectively studied.The patients were divided into cerebral infarction group and control group,and all of them underwent two-dimensional ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound.The parameters such as the maximum thickness,the stenosis rate of cross-sectional area,the enhanced intensity (EI),the area under the curve (AUC) and the grading of the neovascularization in the plaque were detected and compared.Results The EI and AUC of the cerebral infarction group were higher than those of the control group,the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Many grade Ⅲ and Ⅳ neovascularizations were found in cerebral infarction group,while the grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ neovascularizations were mostly in the control group,the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in the maximum thickness and stenosis rate of cross-sectional area between the two groups (P＞0.05).The neovascularization grade,EI and AUC in the plaque were positively correlated with cerebral infarction (r=0.331,0.416 and 0.410,P＜0.05).Conclusion ① The chara-cteristics of femoral artery hypoechoic plaques in patients with cerebral infarction are rich of neovascularization and instable by using contrast-enhanced ultrasonic imaging.② The neovascularization of femoral artery hypoechoic plaque has positive correlation with cerebral infarction,which may provide a new method for clinical prediction and prevention of intracranial atherosclerosis.