More articles from Extracranial Vascular
- Vitamin D and Vulnerable Carotid Plaque
Angiotensin II stimulates intraplaque hemorrhage in animal models, and the angiotensin system is highly regulated by vitamin D. The authors' purpose was to determine whether low vitamin D levels predict carotid intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH). In this cross-sectional study, 65 patients with carotid disease underwent carotid MR imaging and blood draw. Systemic clinical confounders and local lumen imaging markers were recorded. They performed multivariable Poisson regression by using generalized estimating equations to account for up to 2 carotid arteries per patient and backward elimination of confounders. The authors found that low vitamin D levels (<30 ng/mL) were a significant predictor of MRI-detected IPH, along with plaque thickness. They conclude that vitamin D insufficiency was associated with both the presence and volume of carotid IPH in patients with carotid atherosclerosis and that these results link low vitamin D levels with plaque vulnerability.
- Endovascular Management of Tandem Occlusion Stroke Related to Internal Carotid Artery Dissection Using a Distal to Proximal Approach: Insight from the RECOST Study
The authors analyzed all carotid artery dissection tandem occlusion strokes and isolated anterior circulation occlusions from their ongoing prospective stroke data base. For carotid artery dissection, the revascularization procedure consisted of initial distal recanalization by a stent retriever in the intracranial vessel. Following assessment of the circle of Willis, ICA stent placement was only performed in case of insufficiency. Two hundred fifty-eight patients with an anterior circulation stroke were analyzed, including 20 with carotid artery dissection–related occlusion. Only 5 carotid artery dissections (25%) necessitated cervical stent placement. No early ipsilateral stroke recurrence was recorded, despite the absence of stent placement in 15 patients (75%) with carotid artery dissection. Mechanical endovascular treatment of carotid artery dissection tandem occlusions is safe and effective compared with isolated anterior circulation occlusion stroke therapy. The authors favor a complete evaluation of the circle of Willis in these patients, which requires a contralateral femoral puncture, allowing selective contralateral common carotid and vertebrobasilar catheterizations.