Is carotid plaque volume more important than severity of stenosis when predicting stroke risk in Carotid Artery Disease?

Abstract

Each year 152,000 people suffer from Stroke in the United Kingdom. 25.5% of these Strokes are caused by Carotid Artery Disease. This project set out to develop the foundations of a stroke risk prediction profile in carotid artery disease patients. The main focus of the project was investigating Carotid Plaque Volume as an alternative indicator for Carotid Endarterectomy. The secondary aim was to establish the various parameters that differ between symptomatic and asymptomatic patient groups. 2D and 3D ultrasound, Transcranial Doppler Monitoring for micro-emboli, antiplatelet resistance testing and patient medical history were all performed as part of the study. Blood samples and carotid plaques removed during carotid endarterectomy surgery were processed for metabolomic, proteomic and histological analysis. 121 Carotid Artery Disease patients were recruited to the study (Symptomatic n = 93, asymptomatic n = 28). Symptomatic patients displayed a significantly larger plaque volume than asymptomatic patients (0.836 (SD ± 0.035cm3) vs 0.629 (SD ± 0.056cm3), P

Date of Award	1 Aug 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Charles Mccollum (Supervisor), Richard Unwin (Supervisor), Garth Cooper (Supervisor) & Andrew Dowsey (Supervisor)