Echodensitometry: a methodologic approach to the non-invasive diagnosis of carotid atherosclerotic plaques

The ultrasound image of the fibroatheromatous plaque has to date been unable to reveal the presence or absence of complications as shown by histology, such as thrombosis and intraplaque hemorrhage. We propose a novel densitometric method for determining the composition of the plaque at the echotomography, along with a new classification based on mathematical models drawn from the optical density distribution curve. This approach avails of an extremely high sensitivity. Percent areas occupied by thrombosis, intraplaque hemorrhage and atheroma in histologic sections have been shown to correspond to hyporeflecting areas in echotomographic images, whereas those occupied by calcium and fibrous tissue correspond to reflecting areas with or without acoustic shadow, respectively. This method may prove to have an important role in the non-invasive monitoring of even slight changes during progression or regression of the fibroatheromatous plaque.