International Journal of Clinical Research

Objective Exploring the combination of SMI and SWE for evaluating the stability of carotid artery plaques. Methods 56 patients who came to our hospital for treatment and were diagnosed with carotid artery plaques (non calcified, thickness>2.0mm) were selected, and 97 plaques were detected. All patients underwent routine ultrasound, SMI, and SWE examinations. Using pathological results as a reference, analyze the diagnostic efficacy of SMI and SWE alone and in combination for vulnerable plaques. Results Pathological results confirmed that 59 were vulnerable plaques and 38 were stable plaques. SMI examination showed that the incidence and grade of IPN in vulnerable plaques were significantly higher than those in stable plaques (P<0.05). SWE measurement showed that the average Young's modulus value of vulnerable plaques was significantly lower than that of stable plaques (P<0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the combined diagnosis of SMI and SWE are higher than those of SMI alone and SWE alone. Conclusion The combined application of SMI and SWE can comprehensively evaluate the morphological characteristics, internal neovascularization, and biomechanical properties of carotid plaques, significantly improve the accuracy of plaque stability assessment, and have important clinical application value.

Carotid artery plaque; SMI; SWE; Plaque stability; Neovascularization