| Evaluation of Carotid Atherosclerosis Using Three-Phase CT |
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In Young Kim, Sun Young Jeong, Ji Kang Park |
Correspondence:
Ji Kang Park,
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| Abstract |
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Purpose : Carotid atherosclerotic plaque (CAP) was evaluated by three-phase CT (TPCT; CTpre, CTartery, CTdelay). The purposes of
this study are to: (1) to determine optimal phase for the visualization of CAP components; (2) evaluate whether there is a
significant difference in the quantitative CT Hounsfield unit (CTHUs) of the CAP components between the arterial and delay
phase.
Materials and Methods : Two reviewers evaluated the detection rate and image quality for CAP components on CTartery and
CTdelay source images in 36 patients. Quantitative analysis of the CTHUs for the soft plaque and outer wall was performed in 47
arteries. The CTHUs were measured for the soft plaque and the outer wall using the manual ROI method for each carotid
plaque. The difference of image quality on CTartery and CTdelay, the difference of the CTHUs according to CT phase, the difference
in CTHUs according to the arterial symptomatology or stenosis degree were statistically evaluated.
Results : CTdelay was the optimal phase for the delineation of soft plaque and outer wall enhancement. The CAP components
showed progressive delayed enhancement. There were statistically significant increase in the enhancement of the outer wall
through TPCT (p <0.001). CTHUs of soft plaque and outer wall on CTdelay and CTartery did not show significant correlations with
symptomatology. The CTHUs of soft plaque on CTartery (p =0.02) and CTHUs of the outer wall on CTdelay (p =0.01) were
significantly higher in the group of symptomatic arteries or severely stenotic arteries together that that in the group of
asymptomatic arteries with less than 70% stenosis.
Conclusion : CTdelay was the optimal phase for plaque detection and the characterization of plaque components. |
| Key Words:
CT, Carotid artery, Atherosclerotic plaque |
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