How Can We Know Which Plaque Is Vulnerable and Very High Risk for Carotid Artery Stenting?

Even now, filter era, embolic complications are reported in no small measure in the course of carotid artery stenting (CAS). If we can know which plaque is vulnerable before the procedure, we will perform CAS with special protection method including proximal protection, or might consider carotid endarterectomy. But the predictor of plaque stability is still unclear. So the aim of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between the intensity of the plaque comparison with that of the sternocleidomastoid muscle by black blood magnetic resonance imaging (BB-MRI) and the plaque stability.