Young Adult Carotid Artery In Patients With Extracranial Atherosclerosis Of Cerebral Infarction

Objective To assess the severity of carotid atherosclerosis in young adult with acute cerebral infarction . Methods 78 young adult with cerebral infarction and 69 control subjects were examined with color duplx sonography for evaluating the extracranial atherosclerosis. Results The increasing of carotid artery IMT in young adult ischemic stroke patients was more than health control subjects(P<0.05). The incidence of the carotid plaque in young adult stroke patients was found to be 52.9%,while 6.6% in control subjects.Cerebral infarction in young adult was correlated with the type of carotid plaque, especially soft plaque and ulcer plaque. There is a high prevalence of carotid plaque in CCA and ICA. In young adult stroke patients ,the slight and moderate stenoses of the carotid arteries induced by atherosclerosis were found to be 7.8%, the severe stenoses occurred 2.6%, while the moderate and severe stenoses occurred in old patients. As ages goes by, the severity of carotid atherosclerosis will be increased. Conclusion There is a high prevalence of extracranial carotid atherosclerosis in young adult stroke patients.The study demonstrates the clinical usefulness with high resolution duplx ultrasonography for the evaluation of carotid atherosclerosis.