Radiological evaluation for atherosclerosis of common hepatic artery

The aim of our study was to demonstrate that the common hepatic artery is the artery resistant to atherosclerosis, which is the leading cause of morbidity and death. For this purpose, multidedector computed tomography was used to detect the presence, distribution, burden, lumen stenosis, and type of atherosclerotic plaque in the abdominal arteries included in our study. The abdominal arteries evaluated in this study are the common hepatic artery (CHA), proper hepatic artery (PHA), splenic artery (SA), celiac trunk (CT), superior mesenteric artery (SMA), right and left renal arteries (RRA, LRA) and abdominal aorta (AA). Additionally, the relationship between NAFLD and plaque was examined in the evaluated arteries. A total of 109 patients (54 female, 55 male) between the ages of 40-80 were included in the study. Of these patients; 82.6% in the AA, 35.8% in the RRA, 33.9% in the SMA, 33% in the LRA, 25.7% in the SA, 14.7% in the CT, 1.8% in the CHA had atherosclerotic plaques and no plaque in the PHA. A significant difference was observed in the plaque involvement between CHA and other groups (AA, RRA, LRA, SMA, and SA) based on the total plaque area score (TPAS) (p=0.004 for SA, p<0.001 for others). No significant difference was detected between CT and common and proper hepatic arteries (p=0.906, 0.691, respectively). A significantly higher rate of plaque involvement was observed in the AA artery compared to all other arteries (p<0.001). In the AA, plaque involvement was most frequently detected in the distal part, second in the mid-distal part, while in SMA, RRA, and LRA, plaque involvement was most commonly observed in the proximal part. There was no statistically significant difference between genders. A significant correlation was found between TPAS and lumen stenosis rates (p<0.001). The most common type of plaque was calcified (62.7%), followed by mixed (21.6%) and soft (15.7%) plaques. No association was found between NAFLD and TPAS of the abdominal arteries (all p values>0.05).