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. 2021 Jul 15:12:619233.
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.619233. eCollection 2021.

Understanding the Clinical Implications of Intracranial Arterial Calcification Using Brain CT and Vessel Wall Imaging

Affiliations

Understanding the Clinical Implications of Intracranial Arterial Calcification Using Brain CT and Vessel Wall Imaging

Wen-Jie Yang et al. Front Neurol. .

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Intracranial arterial calcification (IAC) has been the focus of much attention by clinicians and researchers as an indicator of intracranial atherosclerosis, but correlations of IAC patterns (intimal or medial) with the presence of atherosclerotic plaques and plaque stability are still a matter of debate. Our study aimed to assess the associations of IAC patterns identified on computed tomography (CT) with the presence of plaque detected on vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging and plaque stability. Materials and Methods: Patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack and intracranial artery stenosis were recruited. IAC was detected and localized (intima or media) on non-contrast CT images. Intracranial atherosclerotic plaques were identified using vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging and matched to corresponding CT images. Associations between IAC patterns and culprit atherosclerotic plaques were assessed by using multivariate regression. Results: Seventy-five patients (mean age, 63.4 ± 11.6 years; males, 46) were included. Two hundred and twenty-one segments with IAC were identified on CT in 66 patients, including 86 (38.9%) predominantly intimal calcifications and 135 (61.1%) predominantly medial calcifications. A total of 72.0% of intimal calcifications coexisted with atherosclerotic plaques, whereas only 10.2% of medial calcifications coexisted with plaques. Intimal calcification was more commonly shown in non-culprit plaques than culprit plaques (25.9 vs. 9.4%, P = 0.008). The multivariate mixed logistic regression adjusted for the degree of stenosis showed that intimal calcification was significantly associated with non-culprit plaques (OR, 2.971; 95% CI, 1.036-8.517; P = 0.043). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that intimal calcification may indicate the existence of a stable form of atherosclerotic plaque, but plaques can exist in the absence of intimal calcification especially in the middle cerebral artery.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; calcification; computed tomography; intracranial disease; magnetic resonance imaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of calcification score for categorizing ICA calcification patterns. Calcification (arrows) was scored based on circularity (A), thickness (B), and continuity (C) on CT. Circularity and thickness were assessed on the short axis; continuity was assessed on the long axis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representative images of predominant intimal VA calcification. CT shows a small clustered calcification on the long (A, arrow) and short axes (B, arrow) of the right VA indictive of intimal calcification. The calcification corresponds to a hypointensity area (C,D, arrows) within an atherosclerotic plaque observed on VWMRI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Representative images of predominant medial ICA calcification. CT shows a continuous, circumferential calcification on the long (A, arrow) and short axes (B, arrow) of the right cavernous segment of the ICA suggesting medial calcification. No corresponding plaque is observed on VWMRI (C, D, arrows).

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