Ultrasound-image-based texture variability along the carotid artery wall in asymptomatic subjects with low and high stenosis degrees: unveiling morphological phenomena of the vulnerable tissue

Valid identification of the vulnerable asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis remains a crucial clinical issue. In this study, texture differences were estimated along the atherosclerotic arterial wall, namely at the plaque, the wall adjacent to it and the plaque shoulder, i.e. the boundary between wall and plaque, in an attempt to reveal morphological phenomena, representative of the high stenosis (considered vulnerable) cases. A total of 25 arteries were interrogated, 11 with low (50-69%) and 14 with high (70-100%) degrees of stenosis. The two groups had similar ages. Texture features were estimated from B-mode ultrasound images, and included four second-order statistical parameters (contrast, correlation, energy and homogeneity), each calculated at four different image directions (0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees), yielding a total of 16 features. Texture differences between (a) wall and plaque and (b) wall and plaque shoulder were quantified as the differences in texture feature values for each tissue area normalised by the texture feature value of the wall, which was considered as reference, as illustrated in the following equation: dTF(i) = (TFi,W - TFi,P/S)/TFi,W, where dTF(i) the estimated texture difference, TFi,W the texture of the wall, and TFi,P/S the texture of the plaque (P) or the shoulder (S). Significant differences in texture variability of wall vs. shoulder were observed between high and low stenosis cases for 3 features at diastole and 7 features at systole. No differences were observed for wall vs plaque, although wall texture was significantly different than plaque texture, in absolute values. These findings suggest that texture variability along the atherosclerotic wall, which is indicative of tissue discontinuities, and proneness to rupture, can be quantitatively described with texture indices and reveal valuable morphological phenomena of the vulnerable tissue. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V