Total plaque score helps to determine follow-up strategy for carotid artery stenosis progression in head and neck cancer patients after radiation therapy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To identify predictors of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) progression in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients after radiation therapy (RT).

Methods

We included 217 stroke-naïve HNC patients with mild carotid artery stenosis after RT in our hospital. These patients underwent annual carotid duplex ultrasound (CDU) studies to monitor CAS progression. CAS progression was defined as the presence of ≥50% stenosis of the internal/common carotid artery on follow-up CDU. We recorded total plaque score (TPS) and determined the cut-off TPS to predict CAS progression. We categorized patients into high (HP) and low plaque (LP) score groups based on their TPS at enrolment. We analyzed the cumulative events of CAS progression in the two groups.

Results

The TPS of the CDU stu

SUBMITTER: Liu CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7880459 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature