Relationship between carotid artery atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in elderly patients with chronic bronchitis

AIM: To investigate whether the extent of carotid atherosclerosis is associated with coronary heart disease(CHD) in elderly patients with chronic bronchitis.METHODS: Carotid ultrasound was performed in 328 patients.According to the results of coronary angiography,patients were divided into four groups: one-vessel group(n=102),two-vessel group(n=62),multi-vessel group(n=84) and normal control group(n=80).The intima-media thickness(IMT) and the degree of carotid atherosclerosis were compared among the four groups.RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in carotid artery IMT and plaque score was observed between control group and coronary artery disease(CAD) groups(P0.05),especially between two-vessel and multivessel groups.CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that carotid atherosclerosis is a good predictive marker for coronary heart disease.Ultrasound examination of the carotid artery is of some value in screening high-risk patients with coronary artery disease.