Background: The cerebrovasuclar artery disease as a common complication of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)\r\ncaused huge economic burden and lives threatening to patients. We evaluated the prevalence and morphology of\r\ncarotid and cerebrovascular atherosclerotic plaques in T2DM patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke\r\nusing multidetector CT (MDCT).\r\nMethods: 64-MDCT and dual-source CT (DSCT) angiographies were performed in 195 T2DM patients with TIA or\r\nstroke (mean age 65.7+/-12.8 years; 118 men) between January 2009 to August 2011. During the process, plaque\r\ntype, its distribution, extensive and obstructive natures were determined for each segment derived from the\r\npatients.\r\nResults: Atherosclerotic plaques were detected in 183 (93.8%) patients. A total of 1056 segments with plaque were\r\nidentified, of which 450 (42.6%) were non-calcified, 192 (18.2%) were mixed and 414 (39.2%) calcified ones. Among\r\nthem, 562 (53.2%) resulted in mild stenosis, 291 (27.6%) moderate stenosis, 170 (16.1%) severe stenosis and 33\r\n(3.1%) occlusion. Non-calcified plaques contributed 91.8% to non-obstructive lumen narrowing, while mixed and\r\ncalcified plaques contributed 89.0% and 65.0% respectively.\r\nConclusions: MDCT angiography detected a high prevalence of plaques in T2DM patients with TIA or stroke. A\r\nrelatively high proportion of plaques were non-calcified, as well as with non-obstructive stenosis. MDCT\r\nangiography might further enhance the detection and management of carotid and cerebrovascular atherosclerosis\r\nin T2DM patients with TIA and stroke.
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