Estimation of Regional Plaque Characteristics Based on Quantitative Wall Shear Stress Distribution Analysis Using Color Doppler Flow Imaging

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of assessing wall shear stress (WSS) spatial distribution around plaque and estimation of its characteristics. Methods: Fifty patients with intima-media thickening were prospectively enrolled and were divided into an IMT group. At the same time, another fifty healthy volunteers were enrolled as the control group. In addition, five patients with serious plaque condition were enrolled. All the subjects were scanned and the DICOM files were imported into our in-house program. The mean WSS values and correlation analyses from one hundred subjects were compared with those calculated by the HagenPoiseuille equation in order to check the accuracy of the churned data. After validation, the WSS distributions of regional plaques were assessed by this program. Results: The mean WSS value calculated by Hagen-Poiseuille equation was 3.12 ± 0.65 dyne/cm 2 , while it was 2.87 ± 0.59 dyne/cm 2 by the program. The difference was not statistically significant (t = −2 069, P = 0 496). Similar to the Hagen-Poiseuille equation, a negative liner correlation was also found between the calculated WSS and intima-media thickness (r = −0 806, P = 0 000). Based on our developed platform, we found that the WSS distribution at the middle of the proximal plaque shoulder was larger than the top of the shoulder. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that our in-house program can be utilized to assess WSS near plaque shoulders accurately and efficiently.