Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 8:9:48-51.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijcha.2015.08.003. eCollection 2015 Dec 7.

Carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaque represent different adaptive responses to traditional cardiovascular risk factors

Liz Andréa Villela Baroncini  1 , Lucimary de Castro Sylvestre  1 , Roberto Pecoits Filho  1
Affiliations

Carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaque represent different adaptive responses to traditional cardiovascular risk factors

Liz Andréa Villela Baroncini et al. Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc. .

Abstract

Aim: To assess the effects of each traditional cardiovascular risk factor (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and smoking), including the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD), on carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and to assess the degree of carotid plaque occurrence.

Methods: A total of 553 outpatients (216 men and 337 women; mean age 67.06 ± 12.44 years) who underwent a carotid artery ultrasound were screened for carotid plaque and CIMT measurements.

Results: The CIMT medians were higher in males (P < .001) and in patients with hypertension (P < .001). A linear increase occurred in mean CIMT of 0.0059 mm for each year of increase in age. The presence of plaque indicated a tendency to correlate with CIMT (P = .067). The presence of hypertension associated with diabetes (P = .0061; estimated difference 0.0494 mm) or dyslipidemia (P = .0016; estimated difference 0.0472 mm) or CAD (P = .0043; estimated difference 0.0527 mm) increased the mean CIMT measurements. The probability of plaque occurrence in carotid arteries is influenced by the age (P < .001) and is higher in patients with dyslipidemia (P = .008) and CAD (P < .001).

Conclusions: Hypertension is the strongest cardiovascular risk factor that increases CIMT, followed by age and male sex. Age and dyslipidemia increase the probability of carotid plaque. Increased CIMT and plaque could be present in the same patient caused by different risk factors and with independent effects on the artery wall and different clinical prognoses.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Carotid intima-media thickness; Carotid ultrasound; Diabetes; Dyslipidemia; Hypertension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Pignoli P., Tremoli E., Poli A., Oreste P., Paoletti R. Intimal plus medial thickness of the arterial wall: a direct measurement with ultrasound imaging. Circulation. 1986;74:1399–1406. - PubMed
    1. Simon A., Levenson G. Intima-media thickness, a new tool for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular risk. J. Hypertens. 2002;20:159–169. - PubMed
    1. Finn A.V., Kolodgie F.D., Virmani R. Correlation between carotid intimal/medial thickness and atherosclerosis. A point of view from pathology. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 2010;30:177–181. - PubMed
    1. Chironi J., Gariepy J., Denarie N. Influence of hypertension on early carotid artery remodeling. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 2003;23:1460–1464. - PubMed
    1. Grau M., Subirana I., Agis A. Carotid intima-media thickness in the Spanish population: reference ranges and association with cardiovascular risk factors. Rev. Esp. Cardiol. 2012;65:1086–1093. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources