title: Significant Association between Carotid Artery Kinking and Leukoaraiosis in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Leukoaraiosis (LA) and carotid artery morphologic variations are 2 common imaging manifestations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether carotid artery morphologic variations are correlated with LA.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 702 patients, aged 50 years or older, admitted to our hospital from November 1, 2013, to January 30, 2014, were prospectively enrolled in this study. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging to assess the presence and severity of LA. Carotid artery morphologic variations were classified into tortuosity, kinking, and coiling by computed tomography angiography. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between carotid artery morphologic variations, its components, and LA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of hemisphere with LA and carotid artery with carotid artery morphologic variations was 49.9% and 70.3% in the cohort, respectively. Carotid kinking was associated with an increased risk of ipsilateral LA after multivariable adjustment (odds ratio [OR], 2.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.57-3.36 for left side; OR, 2.51; 95% CI: 1.68-3.74 for right side), whereas carotid tortuosity and coiling were not related to LA. Moreover, the prevalence of carotid kinking gradually increased with advancing grades of ipsilateral LA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated that carotid artery kinking may be associated with an increased risk of LA in middle-aged and elderly Chinese patients. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.
authors: Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors: Ke
authors: K
authors: Yu
authors: Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors: Tingting
authors: T
authors: Zhong
authors: Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors: Ling
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors: Junfeng
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China. Electronic address: zhouhuad@163.com.
authors: Huadong
authors: H
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D049292:Leukoaraiosis / Q000150:complications*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Leukoaraiosis; carotid artery; coiling; kinking; tortuosity