title: A systematic literature review of the effect of carotid atherosclerosis on local vessel stiffness and elasticity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This systematic literature review sought to determine the effects of carotid atherosclerotic plaque on local arterial stiffness.
  
  
  METHODS
  MedLine, EMBASE, and grey literature were searched with the following term: ("atherosclerosis" or "carotid atherosclerosis" or "carotid artery disease" or "carotid plaque") AND ("distensibility" or "elasticity" or "stiffness" or "compliance") NOT ("pulse wave velocity" or "PWV" or "carotid-ankle" or "ankle-brachial" or "augmentation index" or "cardio-ankle" or "CAVI" or "flow mediated dilation" or "FMD"). Results were restricted to English language articles reporting local arterial stiffness in human subjects with carotid atherosclerosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1466 search results, 1085 abstracts were screened and 191 full-text articles were reviewed for relevance. The results of the 50 studies that assessed some measure of carotid arterial elasticity or stiffness in patients with carotid plaque were synthesized and reviewed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A number of different measures of carotid elasticity were found in the literature. Regardless of which metric was used, the majority of studies found increased carotid stiffness (or decreased distensibility) to be associated with carotid plaque presence, the degree of atherosclerosis, and incident stroke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Carotid artery mechanics are influenced by the presence of atherosclerotic plaque. The clinical applicability of carotid elasticity measures may be limited by the lack of reference values and standardized techniques.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Seaman Family Centre, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Departments of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Mari E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Boesen
authors.affiliation: Seaman Family Centre, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Departments of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Calgary Stroke Program, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Dilip
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Seaman Family Centre, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Departments of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Calgary Stroke Program, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Bijoy K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Seaman Family Centre, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Departments of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. Electronic address: rfrayne@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frayne
mesh_terms: D000842:Ankle / Q000098:blood supply; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000473:pathology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000473:pathology; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Carotid artery; Distensibility; Elasticity; Plaque; Review; Stiffness; Vessel