November 17, 2020 — Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology

Abstract

The goal of this meta-analysis is to investigate whether carotid intraplaque neovascularization (IPN) on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) correlates with past cardiovascular events (CVEs) and prognosis. The present meta-analysis included 22 studies involving 3232 patients. The pooled analysis revealed that the presence of IPN was significantly associated with a higher incidence of future CVEs (pooled relative risk = 3.28, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.28–4.73) and a lower event-free probability (pooled hazard ratio = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.48–4.27). The presence of IPN was significantly associated with higher rates of past cardiac events (odds ratio = 4.25, 95% CI: 2.48–7.29) and past cerebrovascular accidents (odds ratio = 4.83, 95% CI: 2.66–8.78). Our results suggest that carotid IPN on CEUS significantly correlates with past cardiac events and cerebrovascular accidents and can predict future CVEs. Carotid CEUS is useful in CVE risk stratification.

Authors: Hualin Yan; Xian Wu; Ying He; Daniel Staub; Xiaorong Wen; Yan Luo

Department of Medical Ultrasound, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China.

Read full text at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.10.013