CAN WE USE NEUROTROPHINS FOR CAROTID PLAQUE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - IVUS VH CASE SERIES.

BDNF concentration was negatively correlated with the maximal values for minimal luminal diameter and positively with total Ca2+ plaque area, t.i. with plaque stability. We found positive correlation with necrotic core % and NGF values. This case series is small, and a much larger sample is needed to define precisely any association. Nevertheless, this is a beginning of the study for the potential role of neurotrophins in carotid plaque morphology, either by their local endothelial secretion or by modification of their central secretion from the altered cerebral hemodynamics. They may be both markers and factors for carotid plaque vulnerability.The work was partially funded by a Research GRANT 2020 number 133 from Medical University Sofia, Bulgaria.