Robert Kwee1,2, Werner Mess3, Robert van Oostenbrugge4, Cees Franke5, Floris Schreuder6, Arthur Korten7, Be Meems8, Joachim Wildberger2,9, Jos van Engelshoven2,9, Eline Kooi2,9
1Department of Radiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands; 2Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands; 3Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands; 4Department of Neurology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands; 5Department of Neurology, Atrium Medical Center Heerlen, Heerlen, Netherlands; 6Department of Neurology, Maasland Hospital Sittard, Sittard, Netherlands; 7Department of Neurology, Laurentius Hospital Roermond, Roermond, Netherlands; 8Department of Neurology, Vie Curi Medical Center, Venlo, Netherlands; 9Department of Radiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands
Overall reproducibility in identifying the fibrous cap of carotid artery plaques by non contrast-enhanced (CE-) MRI has shown to be poor. CE-MRI is capable of quantitatively measuring the dimensions of the intact fibrous cap. This study found good inter- and intraobserver agreement in assessing fibrous cap status on a per-plaque basis by using CE-MRI. Future prospective longitudinal studies can rely on CE-MRI to assess the predictive value of fibrous cap status of carotid artery plaques on the occurrence of cerebral ischemic events.
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