Table 1.
Morphological characteristics of all plaques and comparisons of different plaque types*
| Characteristics | Overall (N=180) | Plaque types | P value † | Smooth and irregular plaques (n=152) | P value ‡ | ||
| Smooth (n=51) | Irregular (n=101) | Ulcerative (n=28) | |||||
| Location of the qualifying ICAD lesions | 0.035 | 0.048 | |||||
| MCA-M1 | 132 (73.3) | 45 (88.2) | 72 (71.3) | 15 (53.6) | 117 (77.0) | ||
| Terminal ICA | 26 (14.4) | 4 (7.8) | 14 (13.9) | 8 (28.6) | 18 (11.8) | ||
| Across terminal ICA and proximal MCA | 6 (3.3) | 0 (0) | 4 (4.0) | 2 (7.1) | 4 (2.6) | ||
| VA-V4 or BA | 16 (8.9) | 2 (3.9) | 11 (10.9) | 3 (10.7) | 13 (8.6) | ||
| Arterial luminal stenosis, % | 75 (71–84) | 73 (70–79) | 78 (72–86) | 77 (72–81) | 0.027 | 75 (70–85) | 0.876 |
| Maximal plaque thickness, mm | 1.3 (1.2–1.6) | 1.3 (1.1–1.5) | 1.3 (1.2–1.6) | 1.6 (1.3–1.9) | 0.007 | 1.3 (1.1–1.6) | 0.003 |
| Plaque length, mm | 9.0 (6.9–11.6) | 7.0 (5.8–8.7) | 10.1 (8.0–13.2) | 9.0 (6.2–14.9) | <0.001 | 9.0 (6.9–11.6) | 0.873 |
| Eccentricity index | 0.87 (0.63–1.00) | 0.87 (0.68–1.00) | 0.83 (0.59–1.00) | 1.00 (0.80–1.00) | 0.164 | 0.85 (0.62–1.00) | 0.107 |
| Eccentric plaque | 152 (84.4) | 44 (86.3) | 83 (82.2) | 25 (89.3) | 0.599 | 127 (83.6) | 0.442 |
| Upstream plaque shoulder angulation,° | 33.4 (23.4–46.4) | 28.0 (21.1–43.6) | 33.1 (24.0–43.4) | 56.2 (30.6–94.2) | <0.001 | 31.0 (22.5–43.4) | <0.001 |
| Maximal stenosis distribution in the longitudinal axis of the lesion | 0.416 | 0.321 | |||||
| Proximal 1/3 of the lesion | 28 (15.6) | 6 (11.8) | 15 (14.9) | 7 (25.0) | 21 (13.8) | ||
| Middle 1/3 of the lesion | 63 (35.0) | 21 (41.2) | 33 (32.7) | 9 (32.1) | 54 (35.5) | ||
| Distal 1/3 of the lesion | 89 (49.4) | 24 (47.1) | 53 (52.5) | 12 (42.9) | 77 (50.7) | ||
| Adjoining branch atheromatous disease in cases with MCA-M1 or BA lesions | 88 (60.3) | 20 (43.5) | 53 (64.6) | 15 (83.3) | 0.007 | 73 (57.0) | 0.033 |
*Values are medians (IQR) or numbers (%); Kruskal-Wallis tests or Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used for comparison of continuous variables and χ2 tests for categorical variables.
†P values for comparisons among smooth, irregular and ulcerative plaques.
‡P values for comparisons between ulcerative plaques and other plaques.
ICAD, intracranial atherosclerotic disease; MCA-M1, M1 middle cerebral artery; ICA, internal carotid artery; VA-V4, V4 vertebral artery; BA, basilar artery.