Review article
https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2016.57.311
Unstable carotid artery plaque: new insights and controversies in diagnostics and treatment
Karolina Skagen
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
Mona Skjelland
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
Mahtab Zamani
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
David Russell
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is estimated to be the leading cause
of death, globally causing 14 million deaths each year.
Stroke remains a massive public health problem and there
is an increasing need for better strategies for the prevention
and treatment of this disease. At least 20% of ischemic
strokes are thromboembolic in nature, caused by a thromboembolism
from an atherosclerotic plaque at the carotid
bifurcation or the internal carotid artery. Current clinical
guidelines for both primary and secondary prevention of
stroke in patients with carotid stenosis caused by atherosclerotic
plaques remain reliant on general patient characteristics
(traditional risk factors for stroke) and static measures
of the degree of artery stenosis. Patients with similar
traditional risk factors, however, have been found to have
different risk of stroke, and it has in recent years become
increasingly clear that the degree of artery stenosis alone
is not the best estimation of stroke risk. There is a need for
new methods for the assessment of stroke risk to improve
risk prediction for the individual patient. This review aims
to give an overview of new methods available for the identification
of carotid plaque instability and the assessment
of stroke risk.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
170173
URI
Publication date:
15.8.2016.
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