By Thomas S. May
HELSINKI, FINLAND -- June 14, 2007 -- High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of carotid arteries can help identify rupture-prone plaques in patients with carotid artery stenosis, and may become an important tool in selecting suitable candidates for carotid endarterectomy. This was the conclusion reached by researchers based on a recent study presented here at the 76th Congress of the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS).
"We investigated whether an MRI-based classification system could be used in clinical routine to screen patients presenting with carotid artery stenosis," said lead investigator Holger Poppert, MD, Senior Physician, Department of Neurology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Dr.
Poppert and colleagues used high-resolution MRI to examine 85 patients (56 men and 29 women) with substantial narrowing of the carotid artery. Carotid plaques were classified according to the MRI-modified American Heart Association (AHA) criteria.
The researchers found that higher grade lesions (grades IV, V, and VI) were present much more often in symptomatic patients than in asymptomatic controls (71.4% vs. 24%, P <.0001).
"Our findings indicate that high-resolution MRI can become an important tool for risk stratification and selection of candidates for invasive therapy in patients with known carotid artery stenosis," Dr. Poppert suggested. "Furthermore, it offers an additional method in diagnostic workup of stroke patients in whom the stenosis cannot definitely be attributed as the origin of stroke, due to a competing diagnosis such as atrial fibrillation," he added.
[Presentation title: MRI Based Classification of Carotid Stenosis: A Promising Tool for Detection of Unstable Lesions. Abstract P499]
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