title: Ultrasound diagnosis of carotid artery stiffness in patients with ischemic leukoaraiosis.
abstract: The pathophysiology of ischemic leukoaraiosis (ILA) is unknown. It was recently found that ILA patients have increased aortic stiffness. Carotid stiffness is a more specific parameter and could have value as a non-invasive diagnostic value for ILA. Therefore, using color-coded duplex sonography, we compared local carotid stiffness parameters of 59 patients with ILA with those of 45 well-matched controls. The diagnosis of ILA was based on exclusion of other causes of white matter changes seen on magnetic resonance imaging. Pulse wave velocity β (PWVβ, m/s), pressure-strain elasticity modulus (Ep, kPa), β index and augmentation index (Aix, %) values were higher and arterial compliance (AC, mm(2)/kPa) values were lower in the ILA group; however, only Ep and PWVβ reached statistical significance (p ≤ 0.05). β, Ep and PWVβ exhibited an increasing trend with higher Fazekas score, though only Ep reached significance (p = 0.05). The main conclusion was that Ep and PWVβ could have a diagnostic role in patients with ILA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Neurology and Intensive Neurologic Therapy, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: monika.turk84@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Neurology and Intensive Neurologic Therapy, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Janja
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pretnar-Oblak
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Neurology and Intensive Neurologic Therapy, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Matija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zupan
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Neurology and Intensive Neurologic Therapy, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Bojana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zvan
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Neurology and Intensive Neurologic Therapy, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zaletel
mesh_terms: D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049292:Leukoaraiosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
keywords: Carotid arterial stiffness; Doppler sonography; Echo tracking system; Leukoaraiosis; Vascular risk factors; White matter changes