Studies On The Relationship Between Carotid Artery Plaques On Ultrasound And The Severity Of Coronary Artery Disease

Objective:Through the information which detected by carotid ultrasound, discuss the relationship between the carotid artery plaque and the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods:480patients both had taken the coronary angiography and carotid ultrasound, They were divided into2groups of normal-vessel(n=178) and abnormal-vessel(n=302)[one-vessel disease (1VD,n=168),two-vessel disease (2VD,n=88) and three-or-more vessel disease (3VD,n=46)] by the coronary angiography, and they could also be divided into2groups of carotid plaques (n=250) and non-carotid plaques(n=230) by the carotid ultrasound. The scores of Crouse and Gensini were calculated. Do the Statistic analysis of results.Results:The presence of plaque had significant differences in1VD,2VD and3VD groups than normal-vessel group [89.13%(n=41),71.59%(n=63),60.13%(n=95) vs28.65%(n=51),both P<0.001],and the presence of plaque in3VD group was higher than that in1VD or2VD group, there was no difference between1VD and2VD. The groups of carotid plaques were found significant differences in sex, age hypertension, High Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c),(P<0.05). Carotid artery plaque in patients with coronary heart disease were mostly located in the common carotid artery and carotid bifurcation, most of them were flat spots. In the score of IMT, the3VD group,the2VD group and the1VD group all had higher number than the normal-vessel group (P<0.001), but there were no significant differences in the1VD,2VD or3VD(P>0.05). In the score of Crouse, the3VD group,the2VD group and the1VD group all had higher number than the normal-vessel group(P<0.001), and the3VD group,the2VD group all had higher number than the1VD group(P<0.01),but there was no difference between the2VD and the3VD(P>0.05). With the increase number of coronary vessel, the number of Gensini scores increased. We found no correlation in the Crouse scores with Gensini scores.Conclusion:Coronary artery disease has relationship with carotid artery plaque.With the increase number of coronary artery lesions, the detection of carotid artery plaque rate increased. the patients with a carotid plaque were more relevant to sex, age, hypertension, HDL. Carotid artery plaque in patients with coronary heart disease were mostly located in the common carotid artery and carotid bifurcation, most of them were flat spots. The abnormal vessel group had higher number than the normal-vessel group in the IMT and Crouse score, and it was not related to the number of coronary artery lesions. We found no correlation in the Crouse scores with Gensini scores.