ИСТИНА

Objectives More extensive atherosclerotic plaque neovascularization is associated with plaque vulnerability and symptomatic disease. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is the only non-invasive intravitam technique to demonstrate it. However, there is no data available about the possibility of vessels density assessment using CEUS what became the goal of the study. Methods 15 patients underwent carotid endarterectomy after standard ultrasound and CEUS. The number of vessels/cm2 in the plaque was determined using CEUS images and histopathology specimens. Quantification of neovascularization depending on a vessels diameter has been also performed during histopathologic examination followed by comparison with ultrasound findings. Results CEUS and histopathology results concerning vessels location in the plaque structure were in full agreement. The number of vessels/cm2 in the plaque was 7–46 according to CEUS and 19–420 according to histopathology without correlation between them. Difference was attributed to the predominance of small vessels (<30μm) in the plaque (68%-99%). These vessels frequently formed clusters that could have been detected as 1 vessel using CEUS and probably thus their density obtained by CEUS did not correlate with histopathologic results. However, a correlation between the density of vessels ≥30μm in the diameter and CEUS data was noted (R=0.56, p=0.031) and absolute CEUS values were generally close to those obtained by histopathology. Positive but weaker correlation between ultrasound and histopathology results on density of vessels with a diameter of ≥40, 50, 60, 70 and 80µm was also identified. Conclusions CEUS results can probably represent density of plaque vessels with a diameter of ≥30µm.