Evaluation of the relationship between carotid plaque neovascularization and leukocyte in patients with cerebral infarction by contrast-enhanced ultrasound

Abstract

Objective To detecte the neovascularizations in carotid plaques using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and explore the relationship between the neovascularizations and the peripheral leukocytes in the patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods Sixty-two patients with large artery atherosclerosis cerebral infarction were selected as cerebral infarction group; and 54 age-and gender-matched patients with atherosclerosis and without cerebral cerebrovascular events were recruited control group. The dominant carotid artery plaques were performed by CEUS, the peak of time-intensity curve (TIC-P) and the mean of time-intensity curve (TIC-M) were measured by off-line quantitative analysis. The peak (FC-P), time to peak (FC-TP), sharpness (FC-S) and under the curve area (FC-AUC) were obtained from fitting curves of time-intensity. The correlations between parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and leukocyte counts were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results ①In the cerebral infarction group, the total leukocytes and neutrophils were higher than those in the control group, while the number of lymphocytes was lower than that of the control group (all P<0.05). ②In the cerebral infarction group, the TIC-P and TIC-M values were greater than those in the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the FC-P, FC-S and FC-AUC values in the cerebral infarction group were increased (all P<0.05). ③There was a negative correlation between PIG-P, TIC-M of FC-P and lymphocytes (r=-0.291, -0.263 and -0.270; all P<0.05). FC-S and FC-AUC were positively correlated with neutrophils (r=0.261, 0.298; all P<0.05). Conclusions Carotid plaque neovascularizations is related to peripheral leukocyte count. CEUS help us know more the vulnerability of plaque. Key words: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; Cerebral infarction; Plaque, atherosclerotic; Carotid artery; Leukocyte