Association of carotid atherosclerosis plaque with cerebral infarction

Objective To investigate the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis plaque and cerebral infarction. Methods The carotid arteries of 64 cases suffered cerebral infarctions were examined by ultrasound and compared with 30 controls. Results Carotid plaques were found in 51 cases of 64 patients and the prevalence was 79.7%. Five cases with carotid plaques were checked out in the control group and the prevalence was 16.7%. There was significant difference between the tow groups (P0.001). The plaque prevalence in bifurcation was 55% and that was higher than those in common carotid artery and internal carotid artery(P0.001)The soft plaques were found more common in moderate and server cases than that in mild cases(P0.001). Conclusion There was correlation between carotid atherosclerosis plaque and the onset of cerebral infarction. The severity of infarction was dependent partly on the character of plaque. Ultrasonod examination may be useful for evaluating carotid atherosclerosis plaque in patient with cerebral stroke.