REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Applied Neuroimaging
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1551682
This article is part of the Research TopicApplied Neuroimaging for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cerebrovascular DiseaseView all 14 articles
Evaluation of Risk Factors for Acute Stroke Using Combined CTA and MR HR-VWI Imaging
Provisionally accepted
- 1Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, China
- 2Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
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Objective: To investigate the correlation between peripheral carotid fat density (PFD) changes, acute cerebral ischemia events, and high-risk plaque features. Methods: Patients with carotid plaque (diagnosed via CTA) from January 2021 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. All underwent MRI (DWI and HR-VWI). Patients were divided into acute infarction and non-acute groups based on DWI. Clinical data, CT features, and PFD were compared. Logistic regression analyzed confounding factors, and ROC curves assessed PFD's predictive efficacy. Plaques were further categorized by composition (calcification, ulcer, hemorrhage, etc.), and multifactor regression analyzed PFD differences. Results:1. The acute stroke group had higher blood pressure (159.2/93.67 vs. 143/84.6 mmHg, P < 0.05), thicker plaques (4.4 vs. 2.9 mm, P < 0.001), more severe stenosis (45.8% vs. 4%, P = 0.001), and more ulcerated plaques (29.2% vs. 8%, P = 0.038). 2. Symptomatic-side PFD best predicted acute ischemia (AUC = 0.762) vs. contralateral PFD (AUC = 0.672). 3. Symptomatic-side PFD correlated strongly with intraplaque hemorrhage (β = 0.367, P < 0.001), lipid core (β = 0.190, P = 0.046), and plaque thickness (β = 0.225, P = 0.027). Conclusion: Carotid PFD is a promising imaging marker for vascular inflammation and high-risk plaques, aiding early diagnosis and targeted therapy for acute cerebral ischemia.
Keywords: ：Carotid artery, Periarterial fat, Stroke, Dangerous patches, inflammatory index
Received: 26 Dec 2024; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Guo, Meng, Bao, Zhao and Meng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Li Meng, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, China
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