Advances in structural and functional imaging in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis
Asymptomatic carotid stenosis(ACS)refers to a condition where there have been no neurological symptoms caused by moderate extracranial internal carotid artery stenosis(stenosis rate ≥ 50%)within the past 3 to 6 months or ever before.ACS is one of the causes of vascular cognitive impairment and may progress to vascular dementia.However,ACS lacks specific imaging features on MRI,which does not correspond to its multifield cognitive impairment,drawing attention from researchers worldwide.A review of recent literature reveals that previous studies have mainly focused on structural or resting-state functional research,lacking a comprehensive analysis of structural and functional coupling in ACS-related brain structure and function abnormalities.Therefore,this article reviews research progress on ACS from the perspective of structural and functional MRI,aiming to provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in ACS.