Relationship between watershed infarcts and recent intra plaque haemorrhage in carotid atherosclerotic plaque

Watershed infarcts (WSI) are thought to result from hemodynamic mechanism, but studies have suggested that microemboli from unstable carotid plaques may distribute preferentially in watershed areas, i.e., between two cerebral arterial territories. Intraplaque haemorrhage (IPH) is an emerging marker of plaque instability and microembolic activity. We assessed the association between WSI and IPH in patients with recently symptomatic moderate carotid stenosis.

We selected 65 patients with symptomatic moderate (median NASCET degree of stenosis = 31%) carotid stenosis and brain infarct on Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) from a multicentre prospective study. Fourteen (22%) had WSI (cortical, n = 8; internal, n = 4; cortical and internal, n = 2). Patients with WSI were more likely to have IPH than those without WSI although the difference was not significant (50% vs. 31%, OR = 2.19; 95% CI, 0.66-7.29; P = 0.20). After adjustment for degree of stenosis, age and gender, the results remained unchanged.

About one in fifth of brain infarcts occurring in patients with moderate carotid stenosis were distributed in watershed areas. Albeit not significant, an association between IPH--more generally plaque component--and WSI, still remains possible.