Ultrasound evaluation of unilateral symptomatic internal carotid artery occlusion before and after revasculariza-tion
Objective To investigate the clinical value of vascular ultrasound in evaluating patients with unilateral symptomatic internal carotid artery occlusion(ICAO)before and after revascularization.Methods A retrospective analy-sis was performed for 45 patients who underwent revascularization due to unilateral symptomatic ICAO in The Second Hos-pital of Lanzhou University from January 2021 to July 2024,and according to the surgical procedure for revascularization,they were divided into carotid artery stenting(CAS)group with 32 patients and carotid endarterectomy(CEA)group with 13 patients.The two groups were compared in terms of general data,revascularization rate,change in the inner diameter of diseased vessels after surgery,opening of collateral circulation,and changes in hemodynamic parameters of the affected middle cerebral artery(MCA)after surgery.Results The revascularization rate was 84.4%for all 45 patients,and there was no significant difference in revascularization rate between the CAS group and the CEA group(87.5%vs 76.9%,χ2=0.188,P=0.665).Both groups had a significant change in the inner diameter of the distal internal carotid artery after treatment(the CAS group:t=-5.217,P<0.001;the CEA group:t=-5.056,P<0.001).There were no significant differ-ences between the two groups in the number and type of collateral opening before surgery(all P>0.05).For both groups,systolic blood flow velocity and pulsatility index of the affected MCA returned to normal after surgery(P<0.001).Conclusion Vascular ultrasound can be used to evaluate the changes in the structure,hemodynamic parameters,and collateral circulation of diseased vessels after revascularization in patients with unilateral symptomatic ICAO,and it is a simple and reliable evaluation method before and after revascularization.