Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, China.
Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2020 Feb;29(2):104448. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2019.104448. Epub 2019 Dec 16.
To investigate the differences in characteristics of carotid plaques between patients Xining at high altitude and Jinan at sea level using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.
Subjects were recruited from a cross-sectional, observational, multicenter imaging study of CARE-II study. Forty-nine (mean age 63.3 ± 12.0 years, 33 males) and 51 (mean age 64.5 ± 12.0 years, 34 males) patients were recruited from a site located in a high altitude region and a site located near sea level, respectively. All patients underwent multicontrast MR vessel wall imaging for carotid arteries on 3.0 T MR scanner. The carotid plaques features were compared between 2 patient groups.
Compared with patients at sea level, those at high altitude had significantly greater lumen area (58.5 ± 17.8 mm versus 50.0 ± 19.6 mm, P = .008), smaller maximum normalized wall index (48.6% ± 14.2% versus 57.8% ± 16.3%, P = .002), and smaller percentage volume of calcium (0.9% versus 5.6%, P < .001) in the symptomatic carotid artery. After adjustment for clinical risk factors including age, sex, systolic blood pressure, LDL-C, and statin use, these differences in plaque morphology and composition remained statistically significant. After further adjustment for normalized wall index as a measure of plaque burden, percentage volume of calcification was still significantly smaller in patients at high altitude area than that in patients at sea level area (P = .047).
Symptomatic subjects from a high altitude area have lower plaque burden and less calcification in the carotid artery compared to those from an area near sea level.
利用磁共振成像（MR）研究探讨高海拔西宁和低海拔济南地区患者颈动脉斑块特征的差异。
本研究为 CARE-II 研究的一项横断面、观察性、多中心影像学研究，共纳入 49 例（平均年龄 63.3±12.0 岁，33 例男性）和 51 例（平均年龄 64.5±12.0 岁，34 例男性）分别来自高海拔地区和低海拔地区的研究站点的患者。所有患者均在 3.0TMR 扫描仪上进行多对比颈动脉血管壁 MR 成像。比较两组患者的颈动脉斑块特征。
与低海拔地区的患者相比，高海拔地区的患者颈动脉狭窄处管腔面积明显增大（58.5±17.8mm 比 50.0±19.6mm，P=0.008），最大标准化管壁指数明显减小（48.6%±14.2%比 57.8%±16.3%，P=0.002），斑块内钙体积百分比明显较小（0.9%比 5.6%，P<0.001）。校正年龄、性别、收缩压、LDL-C 和他汀类药物使用等临床危险因素后，斑块形态和成分的差异仍具有统计学意义。进一步校正斑块负荷的标准化管壁指数后，高海拔地区患者的斑块内钙体积百分比仍明显小于低海拔地区患者（P=0.047）。
与低海拔地区相比，高海拔地区的症状性颈动脉斑块负荷较低，钙化程度较低。
