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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background: Intracranial artery calcification detected on CT imaging is a recognized risk factor for ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, but the underlying etiology of this association remains unclear. Differences in objective morphometric characteristics of these calcifications may partially explain this association, yet these measurements are largely absent in the literature. We investigated intracranial artery calcification morphometry in patients with recent anterior ischemic stroke or TIA, assessing potential differences between calcifications in both intracranial carotid arteries (ICAs) located ipsilateral and contralateral to the cerebral ischemia. Methods: Among 100 patients (mean age 69.6 (SD 8.8) years) presenting to academic neurology departments, 3D reconstructions of both ICAs were based on clinical CT-angiography images. On these reconstructions, a luminal centerline and cross-sections perpendicular to this centerline were created, facilitating the assessment of calcification morphometry, spatial orientation and stenosis severity. Differences in calcification characteristics between ICAs were assessed using two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank and χ2 tests. Results: Among 200 arteries, a median of four (IQR 2–6) individual calcifications were counted, with a mean area of 1.8 (IQR 1.2–2.7) mm2, a mean arc width of 43.5 (IQR 32.3–53.2) degrees, and median longitudinal extent of 15.4 (IQR 5.9–27.0) mm. Calcifications were most often present in the anatomical C4 section (56.0%), with predominantly posterosuperior orientation (38.5%) and 42.0% had a local stenosis severity > 70%. None of these aspects significantly differed between ICAs, and this remained after restricting analyses to patients with undetermined etiology. Conclusions: We found no differences in morphometrical or spatial aspects of calcifications between ICAs ipsilateral and contralateral to the cerebral ischemia.

Details

Title
Morphometry of Intracranial Carotid Artery Calcifications in Patients with Recent Cerebral Ischemia
Author
Berghout, Bernhard P 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Fontana Federica 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Huijben Fennika 3 ; Suze-Anne, Korteland 4 ; Eline, Kooi M 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nederkoorn Paul J. 6 ; de Jong Pim A. 7 ; Gijsen, Frank J 2 ; Pirola Selene 3 ; Kamran, Ikram M 8 ; Bos, Daniel 1 ; Akyildiz, Ali C 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC–University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] (B.P.B.); [email protected] (D.B.), Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC–University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands 
 Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands; [email protected] (F.F.); [email protected] (F.H.); [email protected] (F.J.G.); [email protected] (S.P.), Department of Cardiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Institute, Thorax Center, Erasmus MC–University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] 
 Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands; [email protected] (F.F.); [email protected] (F.H.); [email protected] (F.J.G.); [email protected] (S.P.) 
 Department of Cardiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Institute, Thorax Center, Erasmus MC–University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] 
 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute in Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Center+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands; [email protected] 
 Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] 
 Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands; [email protected] 
 Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC–University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] 
First page
3274
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20770383
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3212010552
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.