External ultrasound treatment significantly reduced maximum carotid plaque thickness and area compared to conventional medical treatment alone (79.94% vs 18.52% of plaques reduced; P<0.0001).
Does external ultrasound irradiation therapy added to conventional medical treatment reduce plaque thickness and area in patients with carotid atherosclerotic plaques?
External ultrasound treatment added to conventional medical therapy significantly reduces carotid atherosclerotic plaque thickness and area over 30 days, particularly in anechoic/hypoechoic plaques.
Absolute Event Rate: 79.94% vs 18.52%
p-value: p=< .0001
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of external ultrasound in the treatment of carotid atherosclerotic plaques. METHODS: In the prospective study, 357 patients with 363 carotid atherosclerotic plaques were divided into an ultrasound treatment group and a control group. For 30 days, conventional medical treatment was conducted on 54 plaques in the control group, whereas irradiation therapy in addition to conventional medical treatment was conducted on 309 plaques in the ultrasound group. Carotid sonography was conducted before and after treatment, and the maximum plaque thickness and area were measured in a longitudinal section. RESULTS: No patients withdrew from the treatment because of related side effects. After treatment, the maximum thickness and area of 79.94% of the plaques in the ultrasound group were reduced, whereas in the control group, the thickness and area of 18.52% were reduced. The mean changes in plaque thickness and area ± SD in the ultrasound and control groups were 0.22 ± 0.19 mm (7.61% ± 5.67%) versus 0.02 ± 0.05 mm (0.74% ± 1.64%) and 0.047 ± 0.039 cm(2) (13.28% ± 9.8%) versus 0.0044 ± 0.0102 cm(2) (1.1% ± 2.46%), respectively. Changes in both plaque thickness and area in the ultrasound group were significantly greater than those in the control group (P< .0001). Furthermore, the plaque echo type was another prognostic factor affecting efficacy (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: External ultrasound treatment is safe and effective for carotid atherosclerotic plaques and is worthy of further research and applications. The efficacy in anechoic/hypoechoic plaques is significantly higher than that in mixed echoic and calcified echoic plaques.
Zhang et al. (Thu,) conducted a other in Carotid atherosclerotic plaques (n=357). External ultrasound vs. Conventional medical treatment was evaluated on Reduction in maximum plaque thickness and area (p=< .0001). External ultrasound treatment significantly reduced maximum carotid plaque thickness and area compared to conventional medical treatment alone (79.94% vs 18.52% of plaques reduced; P<0.0001).