Curative effects of Ozagrel sodium injection combined with low molecular heparin calcium in treatment of progressive cerebral infarction

Abstract

Methods: 43 patients with a final diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke (large artery atherosclerosis, according to TOAST) and 38 matched controlswithout cerebral disease historywere enrolledwhen carotid ultrasonography indicated plaque formation. Resting blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were collected. Echocardiography was used to evaluate left ventricular systolic function defined by ejection fraction (LVEF). Ultrasonic velocity vector imaging (VVI) technique was applied to analyze the mechanical characteristics of carotid plaque intima in terms of radial systolic and diastolic velocity (R-vs, R-vd), radial and circumferential strain (R-s, C-s), and radial displacement (R-dis).Results: Comparedwith control group, ischemic stroke patients showed higher systolic BP (148.3±21.2 mm Hg vs 135.7±21.3 mm Hg, P=0.010) and pulse pressure (64.6± 16.8 mm Hg vs 53.1±15.4 mm Hg, P=0.002), faster HR (74.8±13.1 bpm vs 69.5±9.0 bpm, P=0.036), and bore more stress at their carotid plaque intima which manifested higher R-vd (0.0978± 0.0685 cm/s vs 0.0667±0.0493 cm/s, P=0.023), lower R-vs (−0.2347±0.1141 cm/s vs −0.1697±0.0955 cm/s, P=0.007) and R-s (−8.8379±6.3785% vs −5.9116±4.0004%, P=0.015) and R-dis (−0.1809±0.1011 mm vs −0.1307±0.0917 mm, P=0.022). But diastolic BP, LVEF and C-s showed no significance. Otherwise, pulse pressure significantly correlated with R-vd (Pearson correlation=0.278, P=0.013) and R-dis (Pearson correlation=−0.226, P=0.044) while HR correlated with R-dis (Pearson correlation=0.282, P=0.011), which meant the higher the pulse pressure is, themore stress the plaque bears; the faster the heart beats, themore cycles of stress the plaque bears. Conclusions: Since hypertension is a dominant risk factor for stroke, and BP and HR affect the plaque fatigue life from crack formation to final rupture in which mechanical mechanism plays an important role, to prevent the occurrence of ischemic stroke, decreasing BP is not enough when HR is ignored.