Carotid Plaque, Intima Media Thickness, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Prevalent Cardiovascular Disease in Men and Women

作者：Shah Ebrahim, Olia Papacosta, Peter H. Whincup, S. Goya Wannamethee, Mary Walker, Andrew N Nicolaides, Surinder K. Dhanjil, Maura B. GRIFFIN, Gianni Belcaro, Ann Rumley, Gordon D O Lowe · 发表于：Stroke · 年份：1999 · DOI：10.1161/01.str.30.4.841 · 被引用次数：775 · 研究领域：Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention、Cerebrovascular and Carotid Artery Diseases、Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: B-mode ultrasound is a noninvasive method of examining the walls of peripheral arteries and provides measures of the intima-media thickness (IMT) at various sites (common carotid artery, bifurcation, internal carotid artery) and of plaques that may indicate early presymptomatic disease. The reported associations between cardiovascular risk factors, clinical disease, IMT, and plaques are inconsistent. We sought to clarify these relationships in a large, representative sample of men and women living in 2 British towns. METHODS: The study was performed during 1996 in 2 towns (Dewsbury and Maidstone) of the British Regional Heart Study that have an approximately 2-fold difference in coronary heart disease risk. The male participants were drawn from the British Regional Heart Study and were recruited in 1978-1980 and form part of a national cohort study of 7735 men. A random sample of women of similar age to the men (55 to 77 years) was also selected from the age-sex register of the general practices used in the original survey. A wide range of data on social, lifestyle, and physiological factors, cardiovascular disease symptoms, and diagnoses was collected. Measures of right and left common carotid IMT (IMTcca) and bifurcation IMT (IMTbif) were made, and the arteries were examined for plaques 1.5 cm above and below the flow divider. RESULTS: Totals of 425 men and 375 women were surveyed (mean age, 66 years; range, 56 to 77 years). The mean (SD) IMTcca obse...