Article

New Sonographic Imaging Modalities for Carotid Disease Evaluation - A Review

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Keywords

Subclinical atherosclerosis, carotid sonography, unstable plaque, arterial stiffness,

Disclosure:The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.

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DOI:https://doi.org/10.15420/ecr.2012.8.3.158

Copyright Statement:

The copyright in this work belongs to Radcliffe Medical Media. Only articles clearly marked with the CC BY-NC logo are published with the Creative Commons by Attribution Licence. The CC BY-NC option was not available for Radcliffe journals before 1 January 2019. Articles marked ‘Open Access’ but not marked ‘CC BY-NC’ are made freely accessible at the time of publication but are subject to standard copyright law regarding reproduction and distribution. Permission is required for reuse of this content.

Abstract

Several imaging techniques (such as ultrasounds, computed tomography [CT] scan, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI], positron emission tomography [PET] scan, etc.) can provide interesting information on subclinical atherosclerosis and plaque stability. In fact sonographic imaging techniques can be very useful in this field. All of them have their limitations, but each of them has its own specificity and enlights a specific aspect of atherosclerosis - they are complementary. Will it be possible to one day differentiate high-risk from low-risk carotid plaques and stenosis - differentiate high from low cardiovascular risk patients? Who should or should not be treated? This is a major issue for people dealing with atherosclerosis. This article reviews the new sonographic imaging modalities for carotid valuation.

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