Relationship between plaque and carotid artery anatomy and geometry

Atherosclerotic disease of large arteries such as the carotid artery is responsible for one-quarter of stroke cases. The traditional Framingham risk factors for atherosclerotic disease do not explain: 1) Differences in disease prevalence between vascular beds, 2)Side-to-side variation in carotid artery atherosclerotic disease in the same individual, 3)Inter-racial differences in the location of plaque along the carotid artery or 4)Sex differences in the distribution of carotid artery atherosclerosis. In earlier work, our group have described the association between carotid artery anatomy/geometry and internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. However, the relationship between carotid plaque volume and carotid anatomy/geometry are unclear. In this study, we plan to evaluate the relationships between carotid plaque volume and carotid artery anatomy/geometry and females.