Background The guideline recommendation to not measure carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) for cardiovascular risk prediction is based on the assessment of just one single carotid segment. We evaluated whether there is a segment-specific association between different measurement locations of CIMT and cardiovascular risk factors. Methods Subjects from the population-based STAAB cohort study comprising subjects aged 30 to 79 years of the general population from Würzburg, Germany, were investigated. CIMT was measured on the far wall of both sides in three different predefined locations: common carotid artery (CCA), bulb, and internal carotid artery (ICA). Diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking, and obesity were considered as risk factors. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, odds ratios of risk factors per location were estimated for the endpoint of individual age- and sex-adjusted 75th percentile of CIMT. Results 2492 subjects were included in the analysis. Segment-specific CIMT was highest in the bulb, followed by CCA, and lowest in the ICA. Dyslipidemia, hypertension, and smoking were associated with CIMT, but not diabetes and obesity. We observed no relevant segment-specific association between the three different locations and risk factors, except for a possible interaction between smoking and ICA. Conclusions As no segment-specific association between cardiovascular risk factors and CIMT became evident, one simple measurement of one location may suffice to assess the cardiovascular risk of an individual.

Communicating cardiovascular risk based on individual vascular age (VA) is a well acknowledged concept in patient education and disease prevention. VA may be derived functionally, e.g. by measurement of pulse wave velocity (PWV), or morphologically, e.g. by assessment of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether both approaches produce similar results. Within the context of the German subset of the EUROASPIRE IV survey, 501 patients with coronary heart disease underwent (a) oscillometric PWV measurement at the aortic, carotid-femoral and brachial-ankle site (PWVao, PWVcf, PWVba) and derivation of the aortic augmentation index (AIao); (b) bilateral cIMT assessment by high-resolution ultrasound at three sites (common, bulb, internal). Respective VA was calculated using published equations. According to VA derived from PWV, most patients exhibited values below chronological age indicating a counterintuitive healthier-than-anticipated vascular status: for VAPWVao in 68% of patients; for VAAIao in 52% of patients. By contrast, VA derived from cIMT delivered opposite results: e.g. according to VAtotal-cIMT accelerated vascular aging in 75% of patients. To strengthen the concept of VA, further efforts are needed to better standardise the current approaches to estimate VA and, thereby, to improve comparability and clinical utility.

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