Carotid Intraplaque neovascularization correlates with coronary atherosclerotic plaque, vulnerability detected by intracoronary optical coherence tomography.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationships between carotid intraplaque neovascularization (IPN) measured by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and culprit coronary artery plaque vulnerability evaluated by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODS

A total of 131 participants were divided into the vulnerable coronary plaque (VP) and non-vulnerable coronary plaque (non-VP) group. The plaque vulnerability was determined by OCT. In CEUS, carotid IPN was assessed by semi-quantitative and quantitative evaluation, the carotid plaque with the maximum plaque height (MPH) was used for analysis. Logistic regression was used to assess risk factors of coronary plaque vulnerability.

RESULTS

Patients were classified into VP group (N = 92) and non-VP group (N = 39) according to the features of plaque vulnerability in OCT. In CEUS, the IPN score between the two groups was significant different(P = 0.003). Quantitative analysis of CEUS showed that carotid plaque peak intensity (PI) (28.65 ± 4.21 dB vs. 22.51 ± 3.13 dB, P < 0.001), enhancement intensity (EI) (24.91 ± 4.05 dB vs. 19.20 ± 3.17 dB, P < 0.001), and enhanced intensity ratio of plaque/lumen (P/L ratio) (0.32 ± 0.08 vs. 0.24 ± 0.09, P < 0.001) were higher in VP group than non-VP group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that EI (OR = 1.473, 95 %CI: (1.039-2.086)) and P/L ratio (OR = 1.109, 95 %CI: (1.024-1.2)) were strongly associated with coronary plaque vulnerability.

CONCLUSION

The CEUS parameters of carotid plaques is correlated with coronary plaque vulnerability. As a non-invasive examination, CEUS may provide valuable information to advance risk stratification and clinical treatment in patients with CAD.