Relationship between carotid arterial intima-media thickness,angiography findings and coronary artery atherosclerosis risk factors

Objective To determine the relationship between carotid arterial intima-media thickness(IMT),angiography findings and coronary artery atherosclerosis risk factors accessed by noninvasive high-frequency ultrasound.Methods Seventy-nine subjects aged from 38 to 82 years underwent coronary angiography and were investigated for coronary risk factors.Their lower-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),blood pressure,glucose were measured.Meanwhile the maximum IMT of the distal common carotid,carotid bifurcation and proximal internal carotid,both right and left were measured by ultrasound.Results The thickness of the carotid arterial intima-media increased with the degree of coronary atherosclerosis disease and increasing age,low-density lipoprotein,blood pressure,glucose and gender.Conclusion Carotid ultrasound is a safe noninvasive and relatively inexpensive means of accessing clinical and sub-clinical atherosclerosis.Evidence substantiates that IMT correlates with the presence of coronary atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease risk factors.Moreover IMT can be used as a therapeutic endpoint.