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Identifying Coronary Artery Calcification on Non-gated Computed Tomography Scans
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Published on: August 28, 2018

Stroke severity predicted by aortic atheroma detected by ultra-fast and cardiac-gated chest tomography

Marc A Lazzaro1, Osama O Zaidat, Mohammad A Issa

  • 1Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin/Froedtert Hospital Milwaukee, WI, USA.

Frontiers in Neurology
|April 8, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Aortic atheroma (AA) in acute ischemic stroke patients may correlate with initial stroke severity. However, this exploratory study found no association between AA and 3-month functional outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Neurology
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Aortic atherosclerosis is a known independent risk factor for secondary stroke.
  • Understanding the relationship between aortic atheroma (AA) and stroke characteristics is crucial for risk stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the correlation between the load and extent of aortic atheroma (AA) and initial stroke severity.
  • To investigate the association between AA and clinical outcomes 3 months post-stroke.

Main Methods:

  • Cardiac-gated chest tomography (CGCT) was used to detect and quantify AA in acute ischemic stroke patients.
  • Initial stroke severity was assessed using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS).
  • Functional outcome at 3 months was evaluated with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS).

Main Results:

  • Aortic atheroma (AA) was detected in 21 out of 32 patients.
  • AA was more prevalent in patients with NIHSS > 6 (14/17 vs. 7/15, p=0.03).
  • A trend suggested AA may be associated with higher initial stroke severity (OR 3.08, p=0.08), but this was not statistically significant.
  • No significant association was found between AA and 3-month functional outcomes (mRS > 1 vs. mRS ≤ 1, p=0.27).

Conclusions:

  • In this exploratory study, aortic atheroma (AA) on CGCT may be linked to worse neurological deficits at stroke presentation.
  • The study found no evidence of association between AA and 3-month functional outcomes as measured by mRS.
  • Larger studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.
Abstract

Keywords:
TEEaortic atheromaatherosclerosiscardiac-gated CToutcomestrokestroke severity

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