London, United Kingdom 2013 Poster Session Red Cerebrovasc Dis 2013; 35 (suppl 3)1-854 401 219 Vascular imaging Carotid Artery Studies in Ischaemic Stroke Patients: Gender and Age Distribution O. Ntlholang1, I. Noone2, S. Hatton3, G. Hughes4, D. O’Shea5, N. Tubridy6, C. Mc Guigan7, S. O’Riordan8, M. Crowe9 St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND1, St Vincent’s Unicersity Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND2, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND3, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND4, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND5, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND6, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND7, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND8, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND9 INTRODUCTION: The severity of carotid artery stenosis dictates the management. Several studies have shown causative significance of carotid lesions in ischaemic stroke patients. AIM: To establish gender and age distributions of carotid artery diseases in ischaemic stroke pa-tients. METHODS: A database of stroke patients in our hospital was reviewed and those with diagnoses of ischaemic stroke admitted from the first of January 2011 to the thirtieth of June 2011 were selected. Their demographics and clinical data were collated and used in this study. The results of ipsilateral carotid duplex ultrasound and other forms of carotid imaging were collated. The results of carotid duplex ultrasound were correlated to those of CT carotid angiography (CTA) in those who had these 2 imaging modalities. . Severity of ipsilateral carotid stenosis calculations refer to NASCET method of measurement. PSPP was used to analyse the data. Chi-square test was used for proportion differ-ences. RESULTS: One hundred patients were admitted with ischaemic stroke of whom 57 (57%) were males. 47 (47%) patients were equal to or over 80 years whilst 10 patients (10%) were less than 65 years. 85 (85%) patients had duplex ultrasound, in whom 61 (71.8%) had less than 50 % stenosis, 8 (9.4%) had 50-69% stenosis and 16 (18.8%) had greater or equal to 70 % stenosis ipsilateral to the affected hemisphere. Of the 85 patients 18 (21.2%) had CTA which was in concordance with duplex ultrasound in 12/18 (66.7%) cases. However in 6/18 (33.3%) CTA revealed less severe carotid ste-nosis suggesting overestimation of the degree of carotid stenosis by duplex ultrasound. In no case did CTA reveal more severe stenosis. CONCLUSION: Carotid duplex ultrasound may overestimate degree of carotid stenosis com-pared to CTA. Significant stenosis (50-69%, >/=70% stenosis) were more common in male patients (15/53) and 65-79 years of age group (15/40). 220 Vascular imaging Frequently applied but poorly understood: Further characterisation of the ‘endothelial-barri-er antigen’ in experimental ischaemic stroke J. Pelz1, W. Härtig2, C. Weise3, J. Kacza4, C. Hobohm5, D. Michalski6 Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GERMANY1, Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GERMANY2, Department of Neurology, Uni-versity of Leipzig, Leipzig, GERMANY3, Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GERMANY4, Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GERMANY5, Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GERMANY6 Background: Analysing the neurovascular unit under ischaemic conditions requires specific visu-alisation of constituents like endothelial cells. SMI-71, a monoclonal antibody targeting the ‘endo-thelial- barrier antigen’ (EBA), has been frequently applied as a marker for cerebral endothelium in animal stroke studies, although little is known about the functional relevance of EBA on the vascu-lar level. This study aims to further characterise EBA in experimental ischaemic stroke. Methods: Rats underwent embolic middle cerebral artery occlusion and received intravenous injection of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) marker fluorescein-isothiocyanate (FITC)-albumin at 4 or 24 hours. After a one-hour circulation period, serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 were ob-tained, and EBA-immunoreactivity was visualised by red fluorescent carbocyanine (Cy3). BBB per-meability (BBB-P) was determined in regions with increased FITC-albumin leakage, while vascula-ture alterations were assessed by the total number of vessels (NV), the stained area of vessels (AV) and the vessels’ EBA content. Results: Regions with ischaemia-related decrease in BBB integrity exhibited decreased NV and AV at 5 and 25 hours when compared to the non-affected hemisphere (NV, p=0.02/0.05; AV, p=0.09/0.04). However, the area per vessel did not change significantly at 5 (p=0.12) or 25 hours (p=0.35), indicating lack of vessel fragmentation. Notably, EBA content of remaining vessels tended to be increased (5/25 hours, p=0.12/0.17) and correlated inversely with BBB-P (r=-0.60; p=0.05). In contrast, no correlation was found between MMP-2/-9 serum levels and the vessels’ EBA content. Conclusions: Our data provide evidence for a functional relationship between EBA and BBB-P in experimental ischaemic stroke, whereas its increase is accompanied by an amelioration of BBB dysfunction. Hence, future research is required to clarify underlying regula-tory mechanisms of EBA under (patho-)physiological conditions.
Karger_ESC London_2013
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