Association Between Carotid Artery Small Plaque on Computed Tomography Angiography and Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source

Objectives: While traditionally, carotid plaques with significant stenosis have been considered major embolic sources, recent evidence suggests that even non-stenotic small plaques with a 3 mm was compared between the carotid artery on the ESUS side and contralateral carotid artery. The prevalences were 31% and 8% on the ESUS and contralateral sides, respectively. Plaques > 3 mm were often found on the ESUS side. Conclusions: Patients with ESUS were more likely to exhibit non-stenotic plaques of ≥3 mm in the infarcted carotid artery than in the contralateral carotid artery. Thus, small non-stenotic plaques may be the embolization source in ESUS, and CT angiography is useful for these evaluations.