Association between ultrasonic signals of carotid and femoral atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease

Objective:To investigate the association between ultrasonic signals of carotid and femoral arteriosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). Methed:The intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque thickness of carotid and femoral arteries were measured in 91 patients before undergoing coronary arteriography (CAG). The numbers of plaque were recorded and the grades were semi-quantified. These patients were divided into normal group and CAD group.The extent of CAD was coded as 0, 1, 2, or 3 according to the number of major coronary vessels with luminal stenosis ≥50%. Left main Stenosis ≥50% was scored as 2-vessel disease. Result:The IMT progressively increased with the extent of CAD,The IMT of CAD group was obviously higher than that of normal group (P0.05); there was significant correlation between the plaque grades and the extent of CAD (P0.05); the predictive accuracy to CAD by detecting the femoral artery plaque was higher than the carotid plaque (69.23% vs 56.04%). Conclusion:Ultrasonic signals of carotid and femoral arteriosclerosis have great value in predicting the extent of CAD.