Quantitative ultrasound pulsation study in human carotid artery disease

Pulsation in the human carotid artery during two complete cardiac cycles was studied by using computer digitized video-frames from B-mode ultrasound images. Eight patients with identifiable atherosclerotic lesions in the common carotid immediately proximal to the bulb area were studied. Diameter, strain, and elastic modulus were compared between lesion site and an adjacent reference segment 1 or 2 cm proximal to the bulb. As controls, nine patients without identifiable lesions were analyzed. The results indicate a significantly wider diameter (p less than 0.01) at the proximal reference site in patients with lesions as compared to comparable segments in control patients. The strain was significantly lower (p less than 0.05), whereas the elastic modulus was significantly higher (p less than 0.05), at the lesion site as compared to the proximal reference sites in patients with lesions. These results may indicate that an initial dilation of the carotid artery followed by loss of wall flexibility may be associated with atherosclerotic lesion formation.