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(Stroke. 2006;37:2378.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Research Reports

Plaque Echolucency Is Not Associated With the Risk of Stroke in Carotid Stenting

Markus Reiter, MD; Robert A. Bucek, MD; Isabella Effenberger, MD; Johanna Boltuch, MD; Wilfried Lang, MD; Ramazanali Ahmadi, MD; Erich Minar, MD Martin Schillinger, MD

From the Clinic for Internal Medicine II (M.R., I.E., J.B., R.A., E.M., M.S.), Department of Angiology, University of Vienna, Austria; the Clinic for Radiology (M.R., R.A.B.), Department of Interventional Radiology, University of Vienna, Austria; and the Clinic for Neurology (W.L.), University of Vienna, Austria.

Correspondence to Markus Reiter, MD, Clinic for Internal Medicine II, Department of Angiology, University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. E-mail markus.reiter{at}meduniwien.ac.at

Background and Purpose— Plaque characteristics are suggested to play a potentially important role as risk factors for poor outcome after carotid artery stenting (CAS). We therefore correlated objectively and subjectively determined carotid plaque morphology with neurological complications after CAS.

Methods— We enrolled 698 consecutive patients undergoing elective CAS from a prospective single-center registry database and classified the preinterventional plaque status according to gray-scale median levels and the standardized Beletsky and Gray-Weale plaque scores. Patients were followed for 30-day neurological complications.

Results— Neurological complications including transient ischemic attack, minor and major stroke occurred in 5.9% (41/698) of the patients. Median gray-scale median, Beletsky and Gray-Weale scores were 45 (interquartile range [IQR] 25 to 70), 3.0 (IQR 2.0 to 3.0) and 2.0 (IQR 2.0 to 3.0), respectively. None of the scores was significantly associated with adverse outcome adjusting for traditional risk factors, medication, preinterventional symptoms, degree of stenosis, contralateral occlusion and use of cerebral protection, neither with respect to all neurological complications nor with respect to stroke and death (all P>0.05).

Conclusions— Plaque echolucency measured by objective and subjective grading did not identify patients with an increased risk of peri-interventional neurological events. Evaluation of plaque echolucency therefore cannot be recommended for risk stratification in CAS patients.

Key Words: carotid artery plaque • stents • stroke

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