Carotid atherosclerosis and vascular risk factors in patients attending an italian lipid clinic

Intima media thickening (IMT) of carotid artery is a measurable marker of atherosclerotic risk factors and it may be considered as a cardiovascular risk factor itself. Here we present the results of an observational study performed in 963 patients attending the Lipid Clinic of the Enrica Grossi Paoletti Center in Milan. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of carotid atherosclerotic lesion in patients with and without major cardiovascular events and to evaluate its association with the presence and numerosity of principal atherosclerotic risk factors. Maximal- and Mean-Maximal IMT were assessed using B-Mode ultrasonography and measured with an electronic caliper. IMTs were significantly higher in men vs women and were directly related to age, SBP, TC, LDL-C, TG, blood glucose and uric acid and inversly with HDL-C. Among risk factors, IMT was the best discriminant between patients with and without coronary heart disease, peripheral artery disease, but not cerebrovascular disease. The IMT was also linearly related to the number of vascular risk factor, either in the whole group, or after stratification into 3 different age classes. These observations establish the highly predictive validity of the B-Mode imaging of carotid atherosclerosis in the screening of individuals at high risk of vascular disease.