To the Editor. —In their review, Fisher and coworkers1make it clear that intrinsic plaque characteristics are an important, and, until recently, neglected, area of research in carotid artery disease. We would like to add that it is now possible, using high-resolution ultrasonography, to characterize the intrinsic nature of a carotid artery plaque as either homogeneous (without hemorrhage) or heterogeneous (with intrinsic intraplaque hemorrhage) with a high degree of accuracy.2In a recently published study, we were able to identify the presence or absence of intraplaque hemorrhage with an accuracy of 90%, sensitivity of 94%, and specificity of 88%. The benefit of using ultrasound is that carotid plaques can be accurately characterized noninvasively, and, therefore, studied serially. We are currently following up patients with both homogeneous and heterogeneous plaques to determine their natural history.
J Pellerito合作论文数1P Fulgham合作论文数1H Paltiel合作论文数1K Ophir合作论文数1B Hertzberg合作论文数1T Dubose合作论文数1E Mendelson合作论文数1M Frates合作论文数1B Bromley合作论文数1C Rapp合作论文数1M McNamara合作论文数1C Otto合作论文数1Hughes R L合作论文数1
John P. McGahan合作论文数Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Davis1W. Robert Lee合作论文数1
Gregory K. Breeden合作论文数1
Edward G Grant合作论文数1Brian S Garra合作论文数1Elisabeth L. Hill合作论文数1Laurence Needleman合作论文数1J W Meilstrup合作论文数1
