Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine New York NY USA.
Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Unit, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute and Department of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine New York NY USA.
J Am Heart Assoc. 2023 May 16;12(10):e028525. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.028525. Epub 2023 May 15.
Background Small spotty calcifications in the coronary arteries are associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction. We examined the association between spotty calcifications near the carotid bifurcations and ipsilateral ischemic stroke in patients with <50% luminal stenosis of the extracranial carotid arteries. Methods and Results We used data from the CAESAR (Cornell Acute Stroke Academic Registry), a prospective registry of all patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to our institution. We included patients who met criteria for cryptogenic stroke and underwent computed tomography angiography and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with extracranial carotid artery stenosis ≥50% and patients with posterior or bilateral anterior circulation infarcts were excluded. We examined the carotid bifurcations for spotty calcifications, defined as ≥1 contiguous regions of luminal calcification ≤3 mm along the long axis of the vessel. We also measured low-density plaque and maximum plaque thickness. The eligible cohort consisted of 117 patients with a mean age of 66.7±1.65 years with a median National Institute of Health Stroke Scale stroke at the time of arrival of 6 (range, 3-13). The number of spotty calcifications present within a low-density plaque was significantly associated with ipsilateral infarction (0.3±0.8 versus 0.1±0.4, =0.02). Maximum plaque thickness was also significantly associated with ipsilateral infarction (1.4 mm ±1.5 versus 1.0 mm ±1.1, =0.004). Conclusions Spotty calcifications associated with low-density plaque and maximum plaque thickness were associated with ipsilateral ischemic stroke in patients with nonstenotic carotid atherosclerosis, suggesting a role as imaging markers of high-risk plaque.
冠状动脉内小斑点状钙化与心肌梗死风险增加相关。我们研究了颈分叉处斑点状钙化与颅外颈动脉狭窄<50%的患者同侧缺血性卒中之间的关系。
我们使用了 CAESAR(康奈尔急性卒中学术登记处)的数据,这是一个纳入我院所有急性缺血性卒中患者的前瞻性登记处。我们纳入了符合隐源性卒中标准且接受了计算机断层血管造影和脑磁共振成像的患者。排除了颅外颈动脉狭窄≥50%的患者和有后循环或双侧前循环梗死的患者。我们检查了颈分叉处的斑点状钙化,定义为沿血管长轴≥1 个连续的管腔钙化<3mm 的区域。我们还测量了低回声斑块和最大斑块厚度。符合条件的队列包括 117 名年龄平均为 66.7±1.65 岁的患者,中位数 NIHSS 卒中评分在入院时为 6 分(范围为 3-13 分)。低回声斑块内存在的斑点状钙化数量与同侧梗死显著相关(0.3±0.8 与 0.1±0.4,=0.02)。最大斑块厚度也与同侧梗死显著相关(1.4mm ±1.5 与 1.0mm ±1.1,=0.004)。
与低回声斑块和最大斑块厚度相关的斑点状钙化与非狭窄性颈动脉粥样硬化患者的同侧缺血性卒中相关,提示其作为高危斑块的影像学标志物的作用。