We selected randomly 368 patients including 162 males and 206 females. Mean age are 57.91+/- 11.81 years (41 to 80 years). There are 244 hypertensive patients (66.49%); 312 patients with increase of intima thickness (84.78%); 173 patients with plaque on the arterial wall (47.4%). The intima median thickness is 1.17 +/- 0.347 mm. For patients upon 30 years either the normal or high blood pressure, the older they are, the higher the risk of the injured arteial wall is. An aldult upon 30 years without hypertension is still able to have 73.7% of atherosclerosis (p<0.001). The arterial wall of male is often easily effected more than of female (p<0.001).
Arteriosclerosis ; diagnosis

A portable instrument for arteriosclerosis assessment containing sensor module, acquisition board and embedded module was developed for home care in this paper. The sensor module consists of one ECG module and three pulse wave extraction modules, synchronously acquiring human ECG and pulse wave signal of carotid, radial, and dorsal, respectively. The acquisition board converts the sensor module's analog output signals into digital signals and transmits them to the embedded module. The embedded module realizes the functions including signal display, storage and the calculation and output of pulse wave velocity. The structure of the proposed portable instrument is simple, easy to use, and easy to expand. Small size, low cost, and low power consumption are also the advantages of this device. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed portable instrument for arteriosclerosis assessment has high accuracy, good repeatability and can assess the degree of atherosclerosis appropriately.
Arteriosclerosis ; diagnosis ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Monitoring, Ambulatory ; instrumentation

OBJECTIVETo discuss the feasibility and clinical value of high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging (HRMR VWI) for intracranial arterial stenosis.

DATE SOURCESWe retrieved information from PubMed database up to December 2015, using various search terms including vessel wall imaging (VWI), high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, intracranial arterial stenosis, black blood, and intracranial atherosclerosis.

STUDY SELECTIONWe reviewed peer-reviewed articles printed in English on imaging technique of VWI and characteristic findings of various intracranial vasculopathies on VWI. We organized this data to explain the value of VWI in clinical application.

RESULTSVWI with black blood technique could provide high-quality images with submillimeter voxel size, and display both the vessel wall and lumen of intracranial artery simultaneously. Various intracranial vasculopathies (atherosclerotic or nonatherosclerotic) had differentiating features including pattern of wall thickening, enhancement, and vessel remodeling on VWI. This technique could be used for determining causes of stenosis, identification of stroke mechanism, risk-stratifying patients, and directing therapeutic management in clinical practice. In addition, a new morphological classification based on VWI could be established for predicting the efficacy of endovascular therapy.

CONCLUSIONSThis review highlights the value of HRMR VWI for discrimination of different intracranial vasculopathies and directing therapeutic management.

Spontaneous rupture of the kidney is rare. It usually occurs secondary to various kinds of underlying disease such as infection, hydronephrosis, calculous disease, benign or malignant tumor, renal artery aneurysm and arteriosclerosis. In most instances, it is an acute abdominal process which requires early diagnosis and immediate surgical exploration. We report a case of spontaneous rupture of the kidney secondary to renal cell carcinoma in a 44 year-old female.
Adult ; Aneurysm ; Arteriosclerosis ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Kidney* ; Renal Artery ; Rupture, Spontaneous*

Intracranial atherosclerosis-related occlusion (ICAS-O) is frequently encountered at the time of endovascular revascularization treatment (ERT), especially in Asian countries. However, because baseline angiographic findings are similar between ICAS-O and embolism-related occlusion (EMB-O), it is difficult to differentiate the etiologies before the ERT procedure. Moreover, despite successful randomized trials on ERT, results from studies examining the optimal treatment protocol in ICAS-O patients remain unclear. In this review, we describe the clinical and imaging factors that may possibly differentiate ICAS-O from EMB-O. We will also discuss some current hurdles for treating ICAS-O in the hyperacute period and suggest the optimal ERT strategy for ICAS-O patients.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Clinical Protocols ; Diagnosis ; Endovascular Procedures ; Humans ; Intracranial Arteriosclerosis ; Intracranial Embolism ; Intracranial Thrombosis

Splanchnic artery aneurysms, previously thought to be rare, are being diagnosed with incresed frequency because of development of noninvasive imaging techniques. The pathogenesis of visceral aneurysms is varied and may be secondary to arteriosclerosis (30%), trauma (25%), inflammation (11%), gestational alteration, surgery, infection, medial necrosis, collagen vascular disease, arteritis, and congenital anomalies. Clinical manifestation of visceral artery aneurysms is vague and not specific. The diagnosis and treatment for them are difficult. Preoperative arteriography may be helpful in emergency situation to detect the aneurysm and visualize multiple aneurysms. Surgical ligation, resection and/or reconstructive surgery are first choice of treatment for them. Otherwise, transarterial embolization has also been reported for them recently. We report a case of hemoperitoneum due to left gastric artery aneurysmal rupture and a rare complication of splanchnic artery aneurysm "Double rupture". The patient was treated successfully with simple ligation of the ruptured vessel.
Aneurysm* ; Angiography ; Arteries* ; Arteriosclerosis ; Arteritis ; Collagen ; Diagnosis ; Emergencies ; Hemoperitoneum* ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Ligation ; Necrosis ; Rupture* ; Vascular Diseases

Preoperative evaluation of precise aneurysmal geometry is important for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. We present two cases of unclippable side wall aneurysms due to their extremely low dome height, which appeared as saccular in the preoperative image because of a comparatively narrow atherosclerotic parent arterial lumen. In both cases, a calcified vessel wall was noted preoperatively. Lack of a definitive neck and abrupt discrepancy between the fragile aneurysmal wall and the atherosclerotic parent arterial wall was confirmed intraoperatively in both cases. This study describes an illustrative mechanism for the finding with emphasis on the importance of its preoperative diagnosis. Intracranial atherosclerosis associated with small side walled aneurysms may lead to overestimation of aneurysm height on preoperative imaging of the intravascular compartment.
Aneurysm* ; Angiography* ; Arteries* ; Atherosclerosis ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Intracranial Arteriosclerosis ; Neck ; Parents*

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a vital index of the cardiovascular pathology, so that the accurate measurement of PWV can be of benefit for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The noise in the measure system of pulse wave signal, rounding error and selection of the recording site all cause errors in the measure result. In this paper, with wavelet transformation to eliminate the noise and to raise the precision, and with the choice of the point whose slope was maximum as the recording site of the reconstructing pulse wave, the measuring system accuracy was improved.
Arteriosclerosis ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Artifacts ; Blood Flow Velocity ; physiology ; Humans ; Pulse ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Wavelet Analysis

Intracranial large artery disease (ILAD) is the major cause of stroke worldwide. With the application of recently introduced diagnostic techniques, the prevalence of non-atherosclerotic ILAD is expected to increase. Herein, we reviewed recent reports and summarized progress in the diagnosis and clinical impact of differentiation between ILAD of atherosclerotic and non-atherosclerotic origin. Our review of the literature suggests that more careful consideration of non-atherosclerotic causes and the application of appropriate diagnostic techniques in patients with ILAD may not only provide better results in the treatment of patients, but it may also lead to more successful clinical trials for the treatment of intracranial atherosclerosis.
Arteries* ; Atherosclerosis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Intracranial Arteriosclerosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prevalence ; Stroke

The study comprehensively puts forward several detection methods to arteriosclerosis and mainly discusses the method for pulse wave velocity (PWV for short) and ankle brachial index (ABI for short). On the basis of methods mentioned above, a portable system device for arteriosclerosis detection based on non-invasive PWV and limb blood pressure is introduced, and expectations for the subsequent engineering design and development direction are given for reference.
Ankle ; Arteriosclerosis/diagnosis* ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Blood Pressure ; Brachial Artery ; Humans ; Pulse Wave Analysis