Shear wave elastography in carotid artery plaques

Purpose: SWE is a newly used USG technique. In our clinical study, it was aimed to compare the represented hardness values in the carotid plaques and the risk groups, clinical findings and demographic data and demonstrate their potential clinical benefit by using the Young module of SWE imaging. Materials and Methods: Patients who have measurable plaque in Arteria Carotis Interna over 18 years of age who applied to the ultrasonography clinic of Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Radiology Department between November 2019 and March 2020 were included in our study. TOSHIBA APLIO 500 brand and model ultrasonography device was used to measure stenosis with carotid doppler ultrasonography. Peak systolic flow velocity, diastolic flow velocity, systolic flow velocity and diastolic flow velocity ratios were evaluated. Routine clinical B-Mode ultrasound of all patients was performed. Shear wave sonoelastography measurement was performed on the carotid plate from 2 different points in the axial section. The diameter of the ROI was standardized as 2mm. The SWE measurement area box was adjusted to include carotid. The measurement was standardized by keeping the carotid Doppler USG of the patients, sonographic images of the plates and Shear Wave images were thrown into the PACS system in our hospital. IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 statistics program was used to evaluate the data. Statistical significance level was accepted as p <0.05. Results:There was no statistically significant relationship between demographic findings, clinical features, laboratory findings, degrees of stenosis measured by CDUS findings, history of stroke, and SWE values. Conclusion: SWE is a relatively new USG technique. Assessment of stiffness differences in carotid plaques makes a major contribution to the assessment of plaque stability, which takes into account various factors such as plaque size and morphology. In this study, we investigated the relationship between clinical and laboratory data, demographic data, and the degrees of stenosis measured by CDUS in patients with carotid plaques.However, we did not find a significant correlation.Prospective studies are needed. Keywords: Carotid Artery Plaques, Shear Wave, Elastography, Ultrasound