Correlation Between Characteristics of Middle Cerebral Artery Atherosclerotic Plaque and Infarction Pattern
10.3969/j.issn.1005-5185.2017.05.006
- VernacularTitle:大脑中动脉粥样硬化斑块特征与梗死类型的相关性
- Author:
Sheng JIAO
;
Yan SONG
;
Cheng ZHOU
;
Juan HUANG
;
Chen ZHANG
;
Wei LI
- Keywords:
Magnetic resonance imaging;
Middle cerebral;
Artery atherosclerotic plaque;
Ischemic stroke
- From:
Chinese Journal of Medical Imaging
2017;25(5):344-348
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Purpose To characterize the middle cerebral artery atherosclerotic plaque and investigate its relationship with infarction patterns by using 3.0T high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI).Materials and Methods Forty-nine patients with intracranial atherosclerosis underwent HRMRI.The characteristics of the plaques of middle cerebral artery were investigated,including morphology,distribution and enhancement.Patients were categorized as two groups (strong/mild and none) according to the strength of plaque enhancement,then clinical data were compared between the two groups and the risk factors were investigated.Acute infarction was classified as three subtypes (single/multiple perforating artery occlusion/arterial embolism) basedon diffusion weighted imaging,and the plaque characteristics of each subtype were investigated.Results Sixty-five plaques were identified in middle cerebral artery of 49 patients,62 plaques (95.4％) were eccentric,31 plaques (50.0％) were located at the ventral wall.Patients with low levels of high-density lipoprotein were significantly more prevalent in strong enhancement group (56.7％ vs.26.3％,P＜0.05).The percentage of strong enhancement plaque in arterial embolism group (88.9％) was significantly higher than non-arterial embolism group (36.4％) (P＜0.05).Conclusion Middle cerebral artery plaque distribution is correlated with ischemic stroke,strong enhancement plaque is associated with its vulnerability.HRMRI can provide information to predict the ischemic event and infarction pattern.
