Carotid stents reduce longitudinal movements within the vascular wall
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Updated: May 7, 2026
Monitoring the Wall Mechanics During Stent Deployment in a Vessel
Published on: May 8, 2012
Claudio Carallo1,2, Michela Destito3, Paolo Zaffino3
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Insights
Longitudinal Displacement (LD) decreases with age, cardiovascular risks, diseases, and carotid stents. This study highlights potential implications for stent restenosis, suggesting further interventional research.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Biology
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Imaging
Background:
- Longitudinal Displacement (LD) describes arterial wall layer motion during the cardiac cycle, potentially linked to atherosclerosis.
- Physiologically, LD involves backward motion relative to arterial flow.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate Longitudinal Displacement (LD) in carotid arteries across various disease states.
- To assess the impact of unilateral carotid stenting on LD.
Main Methods:
- Ultrasound imaging was used for carotid acquisitions in 75 participants (150 arteries).
- LD was quantified by percent measure and direction.
Main Results:
- Obesity and carotid plaques were independently associated with decreased LD quantity.
- LD quantity was lower in participants with cardiovascular risk factors, MACE, contralateral carotids to a stent, and stented carotids.
- An inverted LD direction was observed in aged and diseased participants, correlating with reduced LD quantity.
Conclusions:
- LD within carotid wall layers is additively reduced by aging, cardiovascular risk factors, diseases, and stenting.
- Findings may offer insights into stent restenosis, underscoring the need for interventional studies.
Background:
Longitudinal Displacement (LD) is the relative motion of the intima-media upon adventitia of the arterial wall during the cardiac cycle, probably linked to atherosclerosis. It has a direction, physiologically first backward in its main components with respect to the arterial flow. Here, LD was investigated in various disease and in presence of a unilateral carotid stent.
Methods:
Carotid acquisitions were performed by ultrasound imaging on both body sides of 75 participants (150 Arteries). LD was measured in its percent quantity and direction.
Results:
Obesity (p = 0.001) and carotid plaques (p = 0.01) were independently associated to quantity decrease of LD in the whole population. In a subgroup analysis, it was respectively 143% in healthy (n = 48 carotids), 129% (n = 34) in presence of cardiovascular risk factors, 121% (n = 20) in MACE patients, 119% (n = 24) in the carotid contralateral to a stent, 110% (n = 24) in carotids with stents. Regarding the direction of LD, in a subgroup analysis an inverted movement was identified in aged (p = 0.001) and diseased (p = 0.001) participants who also showed less quantity of LD (p = 0.001), but independently with age only (p = 0.002) in the whole population.
Conclusions:
This observational study suggests that LD within carotid wall layers is lower additively with ageing, cardiovascular risk factors, cardiovascular diseases, and stent. Even if stent is surely beneficial, these data might shed some light on stent restenosis, emphasising the need for interventional studies.
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