Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Jul 2022)
The Predictive Value of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Combined with Serum miR-124 Level in Acute Cerebral Infarction and Their Correlation with the Contrast Enhancement of Carotid Atherosclerotic Plaque
Abstract
Ping Zhao,1 Erdong Xu,1 Rui Yuan,1 Ruhai Zhou,1 Jianlian Pan2 1Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315040, People’s Republic of China; 2Clinical Application Department, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co, Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, 518057, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ping Zhao, Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Ningbo University, No. 251 Baizhang East Road, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315040, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: To investigate the predictive value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) combined with serum miR-124 level in acute cerebral infarction (ACI) and their association with the contrast enhancement of carotid atherosclerotic plaque.Methods: Totally 60 patients diagnosed with ACI and 60 controls were included in the study. All the subjects had carotid atherosclerotic plaques, and all of them were examined by CEUS and were tested for serum miR-124 levels.Results: Time to peak (TTP) and mean transit time (MTT) in the ACI group were significantly shorter than those in the control group (P < 0.05), but the peak intensity ratio (PIR), the area under the curve (AUC), and relative expression levels of serum miR-124 were notably greater in the ACI group (P < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in TTP, MTT, PIR, AUC, and serum miR-124 expression in patients with different cerebral infarct areas in the ACI group (P < 0.05). Besides, the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-124 levels for the prediction of ACI were 71.67% and 90.00%, respectively, with a cut-off value of 1.52, and the sensitivity was 86.67% and specificity was 93.33% of CEUS combined with serum miR-124 in the prediction of ACI. The ACI group showed a higher proportion of grades 2 and 3 (P < 0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the intraplaque contrast enhancement was negatively related to TTP and MTT but had a positive correlation with PIR, AUC, and serum miR-124 levels.Conclusion: Grades 2 and 3 intraplaque contrast enhancement and serum miR-124 level of 1.52 had high sensitivity and specificity to predict ACI. Moreover, the CEUS parameters combined with serum miR-124 level could improve the performance in predicting ACI and had auxiliary value in evaluating the stability of carotid atherosclerotic plaques.Keywords: contrast-enhanced ultrasound, miR-124, acute cerebral infarction, carotid atherosclerotic plaque
