Relationship Between Carotid Atherosclerosis,Brachial Artery Endothelial Function and Coronary Artery Disease

Aim To investigate the relationship of carotid artery segments-specific intima-media thickness(IMT),plaque summary score,brachial artery flow-media dilatation and extent of coronary artery atherosclerosis. Methods 31 consecutive eligible patients were divided into three groups with low,medium and high score.Intima-media thickness of the right and left carotid artery(the common carotid artery,internal carotid artery,bifurcation) were measured with external vascular ultrasound,the brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation of all subjects was measured noninvasively by the same ultrasound machine. Results A significant positive correlation between the intima-media thickness of various segments carotid artery and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis was found in all of the subjects,and a better correlation could be got between the intima-media thickness of bifurcation and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis(r=0.679,P0.01).There was a significant positive correlation between plaque Crouse summary score and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in all of the subjects,and it was easy formate plaque at the bifurcation(P0.05).A significant negative correlation among percent FMD and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis was found in all of the subjects(r=-0.646,P0.01).Nitroglycerin-induced endothelium-independent vasodilation among the three groups showed the trend of gradually weakening,but did not reach statistical significance(P0.05). Conclusion Carotid IMT and brachial artery FMD may be a better reflection of the determination of coronary artery sclerosis.