Does ultrasonic plaque heterogeneity correlate with cerebrovascular symptoms better than the degree of stenosis in patients with carotid stenosis?
Ultrasonic plaque heterogeneity correlates more strongly with cerebrovascular symptoms than the degree of carotid stenosis, suggesting it should be considered when selecting patients for carotid endarterectomy.
The higher the degree of carotid stenosis, the more likely it is to be associated with ultrasonic heterogeneous plaque and cerebrovascular symptoms. Heterogeneity of the plaque was more positively correlated with symptoms than with any degree of stenosis. These findings suggest that plaque heterogeneity should be considered in selecting patients for carotid endarterectomy.
AbuRahma et al. (Mon,) studied this question.