Correlation Between Carotid Intima-media Thickness And Coronary Heart Disease

Objective:To study the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease Methods: Carotid ultrasound and coronary angiography were performed in 84 consecutive subjects. Gensini's coronary angiography score was calculated to quantify the extent of coronary artery atherosclerosis. Mean common carotid artery (CCA) intima-media thickness (IMT) was used to evaluate the extent of carotid atherosclerosis. Bivariate correlation and linear regression were used to compare the extent of carotid and coronary atherosclerosis. Risk factors of coronary atherosclerosis were investigated. Multivariate linear regression model identified by the stepwise procedure was applied to estimate the association of carotid IMT with major coronary risk factors such as age, sex, postprandial blood glucose, body mass index, hypertension, smoking, total, LDL and HDL cholesterol levels. Results: CCA-IMT of coronary heart disease group was siginificantly higher than the control group( P<0.001). Mean CCA-IMT was significantly correlated with coronary Gensini score (r=0.278, P=0.01), and number of coronary vessels with ≥50% stenosis (r=0.499, P<0.001). Coronary risk factors including ages, Hypertension, smoking and postprandial blood glucose were all associated with mean CCA-IMT significantly. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of mean CCA-IMT≥1.0mm for coronary heart disease was 50%, 92.86%, 93.33%, 48.15%, respectively. Conclusions: Carotid IMT is significantly correlated with extent of coronary artery atherosclerosis and can be a surrogate marker for coronary heart disease.