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• Clinical Article •
Study of the relationship between the characteristics of basilar artery plaque with mild stenosis and clinical symptoms based on HR-MRI
WANG Xuchao  XU Min  SUN Zhaonan  XU Chang  WANG Wei 

Cite this article as: Wang XC, Xu M, Sun ZN, et al. Study of the relationship between the characteristics of basilar artery plaque with mild stenosis and clinical symptoms based on HR-MRI. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2019, 10(8): 561-565. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2019.08.001.


[Abstract] Objective: HR-MRI magnetic resonance imaging was used to analyze the plaque distribution, plaque composition and relevant clinical characteristics between symptomatic patients and asymptomatic patients with mild stenosis of the basilar artery.Materials and Methods: Patients with mild basilar artery stenosis (<50%) and plaques were confirmed to be included in the study after HR-MRI tube wall imaging on the basis of three-dimension time of flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D-TOF-MRA), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) scanning sequences. According to clinical manifestations, stroke duration and imaging manifestations, the patients were divided into the symptom group (ischemia symptoms or TIA related to posterior circulation occurred in the last 3 months, and corresponding lesions were observed on DWI or FLAIR images) and the non-symptom group (no history of posterior circulation cerebrovascular disease, no MRI positive scan), Plaque distribution, plaque composition[intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), fibrous cap rupture (FCR)] and relevant clinical characteristics of the basilar artery between the two groups were analyzed.Results: In 108 patients with mild basilar artery stenosis accompanied by plaques (47 patients in the symptom group and 61 patients in the non-symptom group), 3244 images were studied, and it was found that 306 images contained plaques (plaques with the same slice of different sequences were defined as one), a total of 413 plaques (A plaque that continuously affects two or more slices is counted as one), 192 in the symptom group and 221 in the asymptomatic group. The proportion of side wall plaques in the symptomatic group (45.8%) was similar to that in the asymptomatic group (47.5%), and there was no statistical difference between the two groups (P=0.733). The proportion of dorsal plaques in the symptomatic group (33.9%) was larger than that in the asymptomatic group (19.0%), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). The proportion of ventral plaques in the symptomatic group (20.3%) was smaller than that in the asymptomatic group (33.5%), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.003). IPH (58.9%) and FCR (55.7%) of intraplaque hemorrhage in the symptomatic group were higher than those in the asymptomatic group (44.3% and 45.2%, respectively), with statistically significant differences (P=0.003, 0.034). There was no statistically significant difference in clinical factors [age, gender, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, drinking, body mass index (BMI), family history of stroke] between the two groups (P>0.05).Conclusions: HR-MRI can detect the distribution and components of the plaque in the basilar artery with mild stenosis. Compared with the asymptomatic group, the plaque in the symptomatic group is more common in the dorsal side, and the asymptomatic group is more common in the ventral side than the asymptomatic group. However, the proportion of the lateral wall plaque between the two groups is similar. The proportions of IPH and FCR in the symptomatic group were larger than those in the asymptomatic group, and the plaques in the asymptomatic group were relatively more stable.
[Keywords] basilar artery；stroke；plaque, atherosclerotic；high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging

WANG Xuchao Department of Magnetic Resonance, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China

XU Min Department of Magnetic Resonance, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China

SUN Zhaonan Department of Magnetic Resonance, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China

XU Chang Department of Magnetic Resonance, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China

WANG Wei* Department of Magnetic Resonance, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China

*Correspondence to: Wang W, E-mail: 1391082196@qq.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2019-01-04
Accepted  2019-02-18
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2019.08.001
Cite this article as: Wang XC, Xu M, Sun ZN, et al. Study of the relationship between the characteristics of basilar artery plaque with mild stenosis and clinical symptoms based on HR-MRI. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2019, 10(8): 561-565. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2019.08.001.

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