Possibilities of Ultrasound Dopplerography in Detecting Instability of Atherosclerotic Plaque of Carotid Arteries

Background. Studying the possibilities of ultrasound diagnosis of atherosclerotic lesions of the carotid arteries to determine the treatment tactics of patients with various types of atherosclerotic plaques. Objective . Assessment of the possibilities of ultrasonic triplex research in identifying signs of instability of atherosclerotic plaques of the carotid arteries. Design and methods. The study included 360 patients aged from 28 to 95 years old who were admitted to the St. Petersburg State Budgetary Health Institution “Mariinskaya Hospital” with diagnoses of transient ischemic attack and acute cerebrovascular accident. All patients underwent an ultrasound visualization of the brachiocephalic arteries. Results . Most patients had atherosclerotic plaques of the carotid arteries with a stenosis of up to 75 % and had signs of instability with varying degrees of severity (according to triplex ultrasound). However, it was not possible to reliably assess the presence of hemorrhage in the plaque using a single imaging method. Conclusion. The data obtained indicate the complexity and ambiguity of the studied question. Further detailed examination of the signs of atherosclerotic plaque instability is required using various diagnostic imaging techniques.