Plaque Inflammation Imaging in Severe Carotid Stenosis and Recurrent Cerebral Ischemia

Abstract

Strong relationship exists between the severity of carotid stenosis and early stroke-risk. Inflammation is believed to be an important event for atherosclerotic plaque destabilisation and subsequent thrombo-embolism. 18-Fluoro-deoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (¹⁸F-FDG) can image atherosclerotic inflammation, providing information about plaque biology, which may serve as a useful biomarker for the assessment of early stroke-risk.