To investigate the clinical efficacy of transcranial ultrasound thrombolysis combined with rosuvastatin in the treatment of carotid artery plaque (CAP) and its effects on serum C-reactive protein (CRP), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).

A total of 80 CAP patients admitted to the Department of Neurology of Zhangjiakou Second Hospital from September 2018 to December 2019 were selected as the study subjects, and they were divided into two groups by random number table method, with 40 patients in each group. The control group was treated with rosuvastatin calcium orally, and the observation group was treated with transcranial ultrasound thrombolysis on this basis. After 1 month of continuous treatment, the efficacy and safety of the two groups were evaluated and compared. Before and after treatment, conventional carotid artery ultrasound was performed to observe the changes of plaque distribution, and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), plaque area and Crouse score were recorded. Serum CRP, MMP-9, TNF-α levels and blood lipid indexes were detected.

The plaque disappearance rate in observation group (16.33%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (1.10%, P<0.05). After treatment, IMT, plaque area, Crouse score and serum CRP, MMP-9 and TNF-α concentrations in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in 2 groups were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), but there was no statistical significance between groups (P>0.05). No serious adverse events were observed in any of the patients.

In CAP patients, rosuvastatin combined with transcranial ultrasound thrombolysis therapy can safely and effectively reduce the number and area of plaques, and further down-regulate the expression levels of serum CRP, MMP-9 and TNF-α.