Prevalence of carotid kinking in a resident population : partial results of the OPI (Objective Prevention of Ictus)

This paper reports partial results on carotid kinking prevalence from the ongoing program Obiettivo Prevenzione Ictus, whose main target is to detect atherosclerotic carotid lesions in a resident population. Over a period of 23 months, 13.936 subjects, aged 45 to 75, were screened by physical vascular and carotid CW Doppler ultrasound examinations; 1.386 (9.9%) subjects underwent color coded echoflow imaging, according to the design of the screening program (suspected carotid atherosclerotic lesion at first level screening): 185 among this subgroup, 40 males and 145 females, were affected with 266 carotid kinkings. In 81 cases (43.8%) the lesions were bilateral. Sensibility and specificity of carotid bruit (25% and 73%, respectively) and CW Doppler ultrasound (48.5% and 55.8%, respectively) proved inadequate for routine diagnosis of carotid kinking. Hypertension was recorded in 146 cases (78.9%). No cerebral ischemic attack was recorded in these 185 subjects over the period considered.