Abstract Number ‐ 243: The Non‐stenosing Carotid Artery Plaque in Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Introduction Atherosclerotic cervical internal carotid artery disease is one of the major causes of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attacks. The risk of stroke from mild to moderate stenoses (i.e., 1 mm depression (19.08% vs 5.26%, p3 mm (19.08% vs 7.24%, p = 0.001), and plaque length >1cm (13.16% vs 5.92%, p = 0.0218).Also, there was a significant difference in stenosis of ipsilateral to stroke when compared contralaterally, especially for stenoses of 10–30% and 31–49% (17.76% vs 10.53% and 5.26% vs 2.63%, respectively. p = 0.0327). There was also a significant difference in plaque component; both components (soft and calcified) and only soft plaque (42.76% vs 23.68% and 17.76% vs 9.21%, respectively. p< .0001) were more prevalent ipsilaterally. In total, 17patients were found to have a recurrent stroke event, 8 patients had an ipsilateral stroke to the index event, 7 had a bilateral and 2 had a contralateral event. Conclusions ESUS is more commonly found ipsilateral to high‐risk plaque features. Qualitative assessment of plaque features using CTA could be easily implemented in clinical practice. The small number of our sample is definitely a limitation. Further large and multicenter studies aiming to form precise prediction models and scoring systems are needed to help guide treatment with carotid artery stenting or carotid endarterectomy versus maximizing medical therapy.