A systematic literature review of the effect of carotid atherosclerosis on local vessel stiffness and elasticity. Issue 1 (November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boesen, Mari E.; Singh, Dilip; Menon, Bijoy K.; Frayne, Richard
• Is Part Of: Atherosclerosis. Volume 243:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 211
• Page End: 222
• Publication Date: 2015-11
• Subjects: Arteriosclerosis -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.136
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.09.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9150

Abstract

<abstract xml:lang="en" abstract-type="author" id="abs0010"> <title id="sectitle0010">Abstract</title> <sec> <title id="sectitle0015">Objective</title> <p id="abspara0010">This systematic literature review sought to determine the effects of carotid atherosclerotic plaque on local arterial stiffness.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sectitle0020">Methods</title> <p id="abspara0015">MedLine, EMBASE, and grey literature were searched with the following term: ("atherosclerosis" or "carotid atherosclerosis" or "carotid artery disease" or "carotid plaque") AND ("distensibility" or "elasticity" or "stiffness" or "compliance") NOT ("pulse wave velocity" or "PWV" or "carotid-ankle" or "ankle-brachial" or "augmentation index" or "cardio-ankle" or "CAVI" or "flow mediated dilation" or "FMD"). Results were restricted to English language articles reporting local arterial stiffness in human subjects with carotid atherosclerosis.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sectitle0025">Results</title> <p id="abspara0020">Of the 1466 search results, 1085 abstracts were screened and 191 full-text articles were reviewed for relevance. The results of the 50 studies that assessed some measure of carotid arterial elasticity or stiffness in patients with carotid plaque were synthesized and reviewed.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sectitle0030">Discussion</title> <p id="abspara0025">A number of different measures of carotid elasticity were found in the literature. Regardless of which metric was used, the majority of studies found increased carotid stiffness (or decreased distensibility) to be associated with carotid plaque presence, the degree of atherosclerosis, and incident stroke.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sectitle0035">Conclusion</title> <p id="abspara0030">Carotid artery mechanics are influenced by the presence of atherosclerotic plaque. The clinical applicability of carotid elasticity measures may be limited by the lack of reference values and standardized techniques.</p> </sec> </abstract>