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Abstract #3686

Sex Differences of High-Risk Carotid Atherosclerotic Plaque in Asymptomatic Patients with Varying Levels of Stenosis -In Vivo 3.0T MRI Study

Hideki Ota1,2, Mathew J. Reeves3, David C. Zhu2, Arshad Majid4, Alonso Collar5, Nikunj Chauhan, Chun Yuan6, J.Kevin DeMarco2

1Diagnostic Radiology, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan; 2Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States; 3Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States; 4Neurology & Ophthalmology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States; 5Ingham Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgeons, Lansing, MI, United States; 6Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States


The purpose of this study was to evaluate prevalence of complicated, high-risk carotid plaque characteristics in both men and women with a broad range of carotid artery stenosis. A total of 230 arteries (51% men) in 132 patients having 0-99% carotid stenosis were included for the analysis. After adjusting for baseline demographic characteristics as possible confounders, presence of complicated AHA VI plaque, lipid-rich/necrotic core, intraplaque hemorrhage were significantly more common in men than women. Increasing MRA stenosis was also associated with these high-risk plaque features. The present results indicate that the development of atherosclerosis appears different between men and women.

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