Carotid Artery Disease and Stroke: Assessing Risk with Vessel Wall MRI

Table 3

Criteria for determining plaque components from common MRI contrast weightings (adapted from [75, 76]).

Component	Contrast weighting
	T1	T2	TOF	CET1
Necrotic core with IPH	+	−/+	+	O
Necrotic core without IPH	O/+	−	O	−
Calcification	−	−	−	−
Dense fibrous	O	O	−	O
Loose matrix	O	+	O	+

Indicates signal intensity relative to adjacent sternocleidomastoid muscle: +: brighter; O: isointense; −: darker.