Assessment of carotid artery lesion and elasticity in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome children by ultrasound e-tracking technique

Objective To explore the carotid artery lesion and elasticity in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) children by ultrasound e-tracking technique. Methods Six HGPS patients, 21 age-matched children, and 14 senescence-matched healthy volunteers were examined by carotid artery ultrasound and e-tracking imaging, the parameters of pressure-strain elastic modulus(Ep), artery stiffness parameters(β), arterial compliance(AC), augmentation index(AI), and pulse wave velocity(PWVβ) were measured and analyzed. Results Organic lesion of HGPS: 5 cases presented carotid artery abnormalities in the 6 HGPS patients(83.3%). Longitudinal observation showed lesions progressively aggravated with time. The most serious patient presented as multiple atherosclerosis plaques. ②Carotid artery elasticity: the parameters of EP, β, PWVβ in senescence-matched healthy volunteers were significantly higher than those in the HGPS patients and age-matched children(P 0.05). All the parameters showed no significant difference between HGPS patients and age-matched children (P>0.05). Conclusions Conventional ultrasound examination showed the carotid artery anomality in HGPS patients, whose elastic parameters by ultrasound e-tracking has obvious difference compared with senescence-matched healthy volunteers, but has no obvious difference compared with normal children, indicating that HGPS may not have the same aging process with natural senescence and carotid artery elasticity may close to normal children. Key words: Ultrasonography; Progeria; Carotid artery; Elasticity; E-tracking imaging