Nonobstructive symptomatic plaques of the carotid bifurcation: echotomographic-angiographic correlations

This study reports a selected group of 45 patients with symptomatic low-grade stenoses of the carotid bifurcations, detected by real-time B-mode echotomography, and correlates the results of this technique with those of the Doppler flow study and carotid angiography. The Doppler study with spectral analysis was negative in all cases, whereas a correlation between the echotomographic and angiographic results was observed in 20 among 27 patients explored by angiography (74%). The causes of failure of angiography in some cases are briefly discussed. The almost absolute sensitivity of high resolution B-mode echotomography in detecting these early, sometimes symptomatic atherosclerotic changes of the carotid artery wall is emphasized.