Role of carotid plaque analysis in therapeutic decision-making for carotid disease.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review without systematic methodology
PubMed 40643324 · doi:10.23736/S0392-9590.25.05443-4
What was done
This narrative review summarizes current imaging modalities used to evaluate carotid atherosclerotic plaque characteristics and examines how plaque vulnerability features inform clinical decision-making and practice guidelines alongside luminal stenosis severity.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative data or statistical effect sizes. It qualitatively describes specific plaque features—including total plaque area, juxtaluminal black area, intraplaque hemorrhage, and predominantly echolucent plaques—as being associated with a high risk of late stroke and influencing therapeutic choices between medical therapy and revascularization.
Why it matters
Incorporating plaque morphology and vulnerability markers into clinical evaluation allows risk stratification beyond simple luminal stenosis measurement to guide carotid disease interventions.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search methodology, pre-specified inclusion criteria, quality appraisal of cited evidence, and quantitative meta-analysis. No numerical metrics or sample sizes are reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) ultrasound imaging is able to detect soft, non-calcified plaque in the carotid artery wall.