La topografia ecografica di placca: un nuovo elemento per lo studio dell’aterosclerosi carotidea

PLAQUE ULTRASOUND TOPOGRAPHY: A NEW ELEMENT IN THE EVALUATION OF CAROTID ATHEROSCLEROSIS In the literature there are no studies reporting a thorough description of plaque topography, realized through Doppler ultrasound, within the extracranial carotid sistem. In our study we aimed to apply a method of plaque localization on topographic planes. We retrospectively analyzed the reports of 112 epiaortic ultrasound exams performed at our clinic between January 2011 and February 2015 and for which a follow-up examination at 12-18 months was realized by a different operator. We localized the plaques, identifying two walls (proximal and distal) in long axis and four walls (proximal, distal, lateral, medial) in short axis view, using as reference the thyroid gland. Then, we evaluated the progression or stability of atherosclerotic disease at follow-up. Applying this method we found a total concordance of plaque topography of 95% between basal and follow up exams. Moreover, we identified that diabetes mellitus was the only independent predictor of carotid atherosclerosis progression.