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- Ibrahimi, Pranvera, et al.
(författare)
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Coronary and carotid atherosclerosis : how useful is the imaging?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Atherosclerosis. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 231:2, s. 323-333
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The recent advancement of imaging modalities has made possible visualization of atherosclerosis disease in all phases of its development. Markers of subclinical atherosclerosis or even the most advanced plaque features are acquired by invasive (IVUS, OCT) and non-invasive imaging modalities (US, MRI, CTA). Determining plaques prone to rupture (vulnerable plaques) might help to identify patients at risk for myocardial infarction or stroke. The most accepted features of plaque vulnerability include: thin cap fibroatheroma, large lipid core, intimal spotty calcification, positive remodeling and intraplaque neovascularizations. Today, research is focusing on finding imaging techniques that are less invasive, less radiation and can detect most of the vulnerable plaque features. While, carotid atherosclerosis can be visualized using noninvasive imaging, such as US, MRI and CT, imaging plaque feature in coronary arteries needs invasive imaging modalities. However, atherosclerosis is a systemic disease with plaque development simultaneously in different arteries and data acquisition in carotid arteries can add useful information for prediction of coronary events.
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- Ibrahimi, Pranvera, et al.
(författare)
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Vulnerable plaques in the contralateral carotid arteries in symptomatic patients : a detailed ultrasound analysis
- 2014
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Ingår i: Atherosclerosis. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 235:2, s. 526-531
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND AIM: Carotid plaques may represent a generalized atherosclerotic syndrome or a localized disease. The aim of this study was to assess the morphological and textural features of carotid plaques located contralateral to the symptomatic side and compare them with the symptomatic side and with plaques from asymptomatic patients. METHODS: We studied 66 arteries in 39 patients (mean age 70 ± 7 year, 33% females). Arterial plaques were classified as either symptomatic (n = 30), contralateral to symptomatic (n = 25) or asymptomatic (n = 11). We compared several plaque features between these groups including the mean values of the grey scale median (GSM), entropy, juxtaluminal black area (JBA) without visible echogenic cap, GSM of the JBA and surface irregularity. RESULTS: The plaques contralateral to symptomatic arteries had similar morphological and textural features to those in the symptomatic arteries. In contrast, they had more vulnerable morphological and textural features than those in asymptomatic arteries: less smooth plaques (12% vs. 55%) and instead more often mildly irregular (60% vs 36%) or markedly irregular (28% vs. 9%; p = 0.03), lower GSM (26.2 ± 8 vs. 49.4 ± 14, p < 0.001) and lower GSM of the JBA (5.0 ± 3.6 vs. 11.4 ± 2.1, p = 0.008). The frequency of entropy and plaque calcification was similar in all groups. CONCLUSION: Symptomatic patients with carotid artery disease seem to have similar morphological and textural features of vulnerability in the symptomatic and the contralateral carotid arteries, which are profound compared with asymptomatic carotid arteries. These findings support the concept of generalized carotid atherosclerotic pathology rather than incidental unilateral disease, and also emphasize a need for aggressive measures for plaque stabilization, particularly in symptomatic patients.
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- Jashari, Fisnik, et al.
(författare)
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Coronary and carotid atherosclerosis : similarities and differences
- 2013
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Ingår i: Atherosclerosis. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 227:2, s. 193-200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although a relationship is commonly accepted between coronary and carotid arterial disease, suggesting that atherosclerosis is a systemic condition, the extent of this association and correspondence has not been fully elucidated. This review discusses recent research in this field and highlights areas for future study. The prevalence of severe carotid stenosis increases with prevalence of coronary stenosis, with the latter being found in a significant number of stroke patients, while those with carotid stenosis may be at higher risk of myocardial infarction than stroke. There also appear to be common risk factors (age, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and dyslipidemia), although the effects in both vascular systems may not be identical. Furthermore, while the degree of stenosis in the coronary artery has little ability to predict acute coronary syndrome, which is caused by local thrombosis from a ruptured or eroded plaque, severe carotid stenosis causing hypoperfusion is highly predictive of stroke, although this effect may be time-limited. This apparent difference in event mechanism in the two arteries is interesting as is the difference in the rate of development of collaterals. Overall, the evidence shows that a clear relationship exists between disease in the coronary and carotid arteries, since conventional risk factors and the extent of stenosis and/or previous events emanating from one artery have a strong bearing on the prevalence of events in the other artery. Nevertheless, the exact correspondence between the two arteries is unclear, with sometimes contradictory study results. More research is needed to identify the full extent of risk factors for severe stenosis and cardio- or cerebral vascular events, among which, inflammatory biomarkers such as hs-CRP and prior vascular events are likely to play a key role.
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- Zhao, Ying, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of statins on valve function and calcification in aortic stenosis : A meta-analysis
- 2016
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Ingår i: Atherosclerosis. - : Elsevier BV. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 246, s. 318-324
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Aortic calcification has been shown to share the same risk factors as atherosclerosis which suggested a potential benefit from statins therapy. In view of the existing conflicting results, we aimed to provide objective evidence on the effect of statins in aortic stenosis (AS).Methods and results: A meta-analysis of eligible studies that used statins in AS was performed. Fourteen studies were identified, 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 9 observational studies. In the 14 studies as a whole, no significant differences were found in all cause mortality (OR = 0.98, p = 0.91), cardiovascular mortality (OR = 0.80, P = 0.23) or the need for valve replacement (OR = 0.93, p = 0.45) between the statins and the control groups. LDL-cholesterol dropped in the statins groups in both <24 months and ≥24 months follow-up (p < 0.001 for both) but not in controls (p = 0.35 and p = 0.33, respectively). In the <24 months statins group, the annual increase in peak aortic velocity and peak gradient was less (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.004, respectively), but the mean gradient, valve area and calcification score were not different from controls. In the ≥24 months statins group, none of the above parameters was different from controls.Conclusions: Despite the consistent beneficial effect of statins on LDL-cholesterol levels, the available evidence showed no effect on aortic valve structure, function or calcification and no benefit for clinical outcomes.
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