Department of Radiology, Beijing Geriatric Hospital, Beijing 100095, China , fengling4097@hotmail.com
Abstract: (14 Views)
Background:To investigate the impact of plaque characteristics of mild to moderate stenotic middle cerebral artery atherosclerosis (ICAD) on the formation of plaques responsible for ischemic stroke (IS). Materials and Methods: A retrospective study on patients with mild to moderate stenotic middle cerebral artery atherosclerosis from December 2019 to December 2024. Patients were divided into two cohorts according to whether the plaque was responsible for IS based on high-resolution magnetic resonance vascular-wall imaging (HR-VW-MRI). Propensity score matching was also used to assign patients to plaque and non-plaque IS groups. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, along with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, were performed to assess the impact of plaque characteristics on IS-related plaque formation. Results: IS-related plaques had significantly higher volume and steepness than non-IS-related plaques (P<0.05), and there were notable differences in remodeling mode and bleeding. Logistic regression showed that the remodeling method (odds ratio (OR) = 0.547), plaque volume (OR=1.092), and plaque steepness (OR=1.089) were independent predictors of IS-related plaque formation. ROC curve analysis showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.620 for the remodeling method, 0.718 for plaque volume, and 0.711 for plaque steepness. The combined predictive model achieved an AUC of 0.795. Conclusion: Plaque remodeling, volume, and steepness are key factors that influence the formation of IS-related plaques. Their joint application could enhance the prediction of such plaques and aid in early detection and treatment.