Clinically carotid artery stenosis degree is often used as a standard for ischemic stroke risk and intervention, the guidelines have been established.The study found that the lumen of artery was not severely stenosis in some patients with carotid atherosclerosis, which is due to the unstable plaque vulnerability.But the incidence of cerebral infarction is more than 50% due to the unstability of plaques.Thus diagnosis and risk assessment of the vulnerable plaque have significantly clinical significance.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most effective imaging examinations of carotid plaques.Different MRI sequences tended to have different strengths in showing the morphology, composition and fragility of the plaques.The purpose of this paper is to make a brief summary of the recommended sequences of MRI plaque imaging, MRI imaging features of vulnerable plaques and the clinical application values of MRI plaque imaging.

Carotid arteries; Atherosclerosis; Plaque; Magnetic resonance imaging