Doppler ultrasound for detecting and evaluating the carotid artery atherosclerosis in elderly patients with hypertension

Objective To explore the diagnosis of carotid artery atherosclerosis in elderly patients with hypertension.Methods Doppler and two-dimensional ultrasound was performed in 105 elderly patients with hypertension and 100 healthy elders as control group to detect the atherosclerosis degree and hemodynamic index of carotid artery and serum cholesterol and glucose at baseline.Results With the increased degree of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia and serum glucose,carotid artery intima-media thickness(IMT) was gradually enhanced,which was significant difference(P0.01).With the increased grade of hypertension,the incidence and size of plaque became higher and larger.The peak systolic velocity and end-diastolic velocity in common carotid artery(CCA) and external carotid artery(ECA) on elderly patients of hypertension were lower(P0.05),whereas resistant index and pulsatility index were higher than that of control group(P0.01).Conclusion Doppler ultrasound is a non-invasive method to detect the degree of carotid artery atherosclerosis and very important in diagnosing atherosclerosis in hypertension and their relationship.