Clinical value of CT angiography in carotid artery atherosclerosis

Objective To assess the clinical value of 16-section spiral CT angiography(CTA) in carotid artery atherosclerosis.Methods CTA were performed on 92 patients with anterior circulation ischemia of cerebrum.Among them,55 patients had digital subtraction angiography(DSA) examinations and 64 also underwent color doppler Ultrasound(CFDS) within one week of CTA.The three-dimensional reconstruction was performed on the axial images obtained by CTA.The degrees of vascular stenosis and carotid atherosclerosis plaque detected by DSA and CFDS were compared with CTA.Results The consistent rate of CTA and DSA in detecting stenosis of extracranial internal carotid artery was 90.9%(Kappa=0.87,P0.01).The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive value of CTA detecting carotid artery atherosclerosis were higher.There was no statistical significance between the detection rates of CTA and CFDS,and the consistent rate of the quality of 113 spot plaque judged by the two methods was 77.9%(Kappa=0.67,P0.01).Conclusions CTA can accurately diagnose carotid stenosis,and evaluate atherosclerotic plaque,act as a routine for screening carotid artery atherosclerosis.