Plaque prevalence.

There was a significantly higher prevalence of atherosclerotic plaques in areas of very low (quartile 1) and very high (quartile 2) endothelial shear stress (ESS) as compared to areas of intermediate ESS (quartile 2 and 3) (p < 0.001). Furthermore plaque prevalence was higher in quartile 1 compared to quartile 4 (p < 0.001). Differences between quartile 2 and 3 were not significant (p = 0.56). Plaque prevalence.