Lee Chan-Hyuk, Jeong Seul-Ki, Kim Hyun Jin, Rosenson Robert S, Yang Wookjin, Jung Keun-Hwa
Department of Neurology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
Institute for Blood Flow and Metabolism Research, MediIMG, Inc., Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
Front Neurol. 2025 Aug 11;16:1576655. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1576655. eCollection 2025.
Extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis is a known cause of large artery ischemic stroke. However, its association with cerebral arterial hemodynamics has been relatively underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between extracranial ICA stenosis and signal intensity gradient (SIG) in major cerebral arteries. The SIG is a surrogate marker for arterial wall shear rate.
In the cross-sectional, retrospective study, we included individuals who underwent health screenings for vascular risk factors, as well as Time-of-Flight Magnetic Resonance Angiography and carotid Doppler ultrasonography. Extracranial ICA stenosis was categorized into three groups: normal, <50% stenosis, and ≥50% stenosis. In each group, SIGs were measured in major cerebral arteries. The association between ICA status and SIG in major cerebral arteries was analyzed using logistic regression, with SIG tertiles as the variable of interest.
A total of 1,138 individuals (mean age ± SD, 63.3 ± 9.6 years) were included. ICA stenosis ≥50% was significantly associated with cerebral artery SIGs, with age and basilar artery (BA) SIG showing the strongest correlations. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that individuals in the lowest tertile of BA SIG had a significantly higher odds ratio (OR) for ICA stenosis (OR: 2.72, 95% CI: 1.27-5.82; = 0.010) compared to those in the highest tertile.
ICA stenosis is significantly correlated with BA SIG, indicating a possibility of link between ICA stenosis and intracranial hemodynamics. A prospective longitudinal study is warranted to clarify the causal link between ICA stenosis and BA SIG.
颅外颈内动脉（ICA）狭窄是已知的大动脉缺血性卒中的病因。然而，其与脑动脉血流动力学的关联相对研究较少。本研究调查颅外ICA狭窄与大脑主要动脉信号强度梯度（SIG）之间的关系。SIG是动脉壁剪切率的替代标志物。
在这项横断面回顾性研究中，我们纳入了接受血管危险因素健康筛查以及时间飞跃磁共振血管造影和颈动脉多普勒超声检查的个体。颅外ICA狭窄分为三组：正常、狭窄<50%和狭窄≥50%。在每组中，测量大脑主要动脉的SIG。使用逻辑回归分析大脑主要动脉中ICA状态与SIG之间的关联，将SIG三分位数作为感兴趣的变量。
共纳入1138名个体（平均年龄±标准差，63.3±9.6岁）。ICA狭窄≥50%与脑动脉SIG显著相关，年龄和基底动脉（BA）SIG的相关性最强。多项逻辑回归显示，与最高三分位数的个体相比，BA SIG最低三分位数的个体发生ICA狭窄的比值比（OR）显著更高（OR：2.72，95%CI：1.27 - 5.82；P = 0.010）。
ICA狭窄与BA SIG显著相关，表明ICA狭窄与颅内血流动力学之间可能存在联系。有必要进行前瞻性纵向研究以阐明ICA狭窄与BA SIG之间的因果关系。
