Abstract Background Although clinically overt events directly attributable to hepatic artery atherosclerosis have rarely been reported, imaging-based evidence regarding the relative resistance of the hepatic artery to atherosclerosis remains limited. Objectives This study aimed to quantify hepatic arterial plaque burden in comparison with other abdominal arteries, and to determine whether imaging-based hepatic steatosis (HS) influences this pattern across age groups. Methods Abdominal CT angiography scans of 109 adults aged 40–80 years were retrospectively analyzed. A standardized, software-independent scoring method was used to quantify plaque burden in eight abdominal arterial territories, and plaque burden patterns were also evaluated according to HS status. Results No plaque was detected in the proper hepatic artery (PHA) in this study population. The common hepatic artery (CHA) exhibited significantly lower plaque burden than the abdominal aorta, superior mesenteric, splenic, and renal arteries (all p 60 years. Conclusion The hepatic artery demonstrated a relatively plaque-sparing pattern, with no plaque detected in the PHA and significantly lower plaque burden in the CHA than in several other abdominal arteries. These findings suggest that the hepatic artery may be relatively less affected by atherosclerosis than several other abdominal arterial territories.
Abbasoğlu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.