Association of plaque in the carotid and coronary arteries, using MDCT angiography

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular imaging
• Atherosclerosis research
• Radiology

Background:

• Plaque burden in coronary and carotid arteries is a significant indicator of cardiovascular disease risk.
• Previous studies have investigated plaque characteristics in individual arterial beds.
• The correlation between specific plaque subtypes in both coronary and carotid arteries using multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) has not been extensively reported.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the correlation of total plaque and various plaque subtypes in carotid and coronary arteries.
• To investigate the utility of MDCT in assessing plaque burden across different arterial systems.
• To determine if plaque characteristics in one vascular bed predict those in another.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 62 patients underwent both carotid and cardiac computed tomography angiography (CTA).
• Plaque within each vascular segment was categorized into non-calcified, calcified, or mixed subtypes.
• Statistical analysis was performed to assess correlations between plaque presence and type in carotid and coronary arteries.

Main Results:

• Total carotid artery plaque significantly correlated with total, calcified, and mixed coronary artery plaque (P<0.001).
• Calcified carotid plaque was associated with total and calcified coronary plaque (P<0.001).
• Non-calcified coronary plaque did not show a significant association with carotid plaque.

Conclusions:

• Total plaque burden in the coronary and carotid arteries demonstrates a strong correlation.
• MDCT is a valuable tool for assessing plaque burden and its inter-arterial correlations.
• The findings suggest a systemic nature of atherosclerosis, particularly concerning calcified plaque components.