Clinical distribution characteristics and analysis on risk factors of carotid vulnerable plaque in patients with acute ischemic stroke

Objective To analyze the distribution characteristics of carotid plaque, and explore the risk factors for carotid vulnerable plaque in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods The clinical data were collected from 588 patients with AIS and 630 patients without AIS matched in gender and age admitted to the Department of Neurology, Second Hospital of Lanzhou University from Mar. 2014 to Feb. 2015. The distribution characteristics of carotid plaque between the two groups were analyzed. All AIS patients were classified as non-plaque group (n=247), stable plaque group (n=93) and vulnerable plaque group (n=248) according to the carotid ultrasonography results. The clinical data were compared among the different three groups, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent risk factors for carotid vulnerable plaque in AIS patients. Results The detection rates of carotid plaque in AIS group and control group were 57.99% and 50.95%, and the detection rates of vulnerable plaque in the two groups were 42.18% and 33.81%, respectively; the detection rates of both carotid plaque and vulnerable plaque were statistically higher in AIS group than in control group (P<0.05). The age, gender, history of hypertension, diabetes and the level of systolic blood pressure among the three groups showed statistically significant differences (P