Carotid Plaque Types and Their Correlations with Risk Factors for Myocardial Infarction

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate different carotid plaque types and their correlations with the risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with carotid atherosclerosis (CA). Methods: A total of 557 CA patients were enrolled, and information on general data, carotid artery plaque types, and their combinations, risk factors, and disease diagnoses were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the risk factors. Results: Hard plaque was closely related to B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and triiodothyronine 3 (FT3); soft plaque to prothrombin time (PT) and PT ratio (PTR); mixed plaque to blood urea nitrogen (BUN), FT3, and cardiac troponin T (cTnT); two coexisting types of plaque (hard plaque and soft plaque, hard plaque and mixed plaque, and soft plaque and mixed plaque) to FT3 and C-reactive protein (CRP); and three coexisting types of plaque (hard plaque, soft plaque, and mixed plaque) to BUN, FT3, BNP, cTnT, D-dimer (D-D), neutrophil count (NEUT), monocyte count (MONO), PT, and PTR. Logistic regression analysis revealed that male sex, soft plaque, and three coexisting types of plaque were possible risk factors for MI. Conclusion: Various risk factors increase when plaque types become complicated. The three coexisting types of plaque were associated with various risk factors (increased BUN, PT, PTR, NEUT, MONO, BNP, cTnT, and D-D, and decreased FT3) for MI. Male sex, soft plaque, and three coexisting types of plaque were possible risk factors for MI, which may be beneficial for early risk stratification and MI prediction.