Evaluation of carotid artery elasticity and its related factors in patients with acute ischemic stroke using shear wave elastography

Objective To measure the longitudinal elastic modulus in patients with acute ischemic stroke by shear wave elasotography(SWE), and to study its feasibility and related factors. Methods There were 179 cases with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) including 103 cases with large artery atherosclerosis and 76 cases with lacunar infarction classified according to the TOAST classification. There were 168 age and sex-matched cases as control group. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) of bilateral carotid was measured by radiofrequency ultrasound. The 20 areas of superficial walls of bilateral carotid artery were analyzed by SWE, and the average values of longitudinal average elastic modulus (MEmean), the maximum elastic modulus (MEmax) and minimum elastic modulus (MEmin) were calculated. The independent factors of MEmean were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. Results ①Compared with control group, PWV in patients with AIS was increased (P<0.05). ②The MEmax and MEmean of carotid artery in patients with AIS were more than those in the control group (P<0.05). ③Age, systolic blood pressure, PWV and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were positively related to MEmean (r=0.221, 0.174, 0.776 and 0.173, respectively, P<0.05), and were independent factors for MEmean. Conclusions SWE can evaluated the arterial stiffness using longitudinal elastic modulus of carotid. Age, systolic blood pressure, PWV and LDL were independent factors for longitudinal elastic modulus. Key words: Elasticity imaging techniques; Stroke; Carotid arteries; Arterial stiffness; Pulse wave velocity