Aortic intima-media thickness can be used to determine target organ damage in adult patients with coronary artery disease risk factors

Abstract

Introduction: We aimed to evaluate the relationship between abdominal aortic intima-media thickness (AA-IMT) and thoracic aortic intima-media thickness (TA-IMT) values and to investigate their relationship with common carotid intima-media thickness (CC-IMT) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors. Material and methods: This study included 100 patients who underwent transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) examination for different reasons with at least one CAD risk factor. CC-IMT, AA-IMT, and TA-IMT values were measured. Patients with CC-IMT > 0.9 mm were considered as having increased CC-IMT. Patients were divided into two groups with and without increased CC-IMT. Results: Mean AA-IMT and TA-IMT values of all patients were 1.55 ±0.27 mm and 1.39 ±0.25 mm, respectively. In patients with increased CC-IMT, blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and hypertension frequency, creatinine, total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglyceride, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and uric acid levels, AA-IMT and TA-IMT values were higher, while the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level was lower than the normal CC-IMT group. AA-IMT, systolic blood pressure (SBP), total and HDL cholesterol levels independently determined the patients with CC-IMT > 0.9 mm. Each 0.1 mm increase in AA-IMT value was found to increase the probability of having CC-IMT > 0.9 mm. In addition, linear regression analysis showed that CC-IMT was closely and independently related to AA-IMT (p < 0.001 and β = 0.599). When the cutoff value for AA-IMT was taken as 1.5 mm, it determined the patients with CC-IMT > 0.9 mm with 86% sensitivity and 82% specificity. Conclusions: The AA-IMT value was found to be higher than TA-IMT in the same patient. Also it was found that AA-IMT was more closely related to CC-IMT.

High-Frequency Ultrasound of Multiple Arterial Areas Reveals Increased Intima Media Thickness, Vessel Wall Appearance, and Atherosclerotic Plaques in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

“…According to the ESH/ESC hypertension guidelines, the relationship of IMT with CVD risk is continuous, and carotid IMT >0.9 mm has been reconfirmed as a marker of asymptomatic organ damage ( 29 ). For the aortic arch, a cutoff value of ≥1.2 mm was chosen as IMT in the aortic arch usually is higher than in other vessels based on the findings reported by Bulut et al albeit this cutoff was based on a group of patients with risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis ( 30 ). It is also necessary to keep in mind that IMT is an age-dependent value ( 31 ).…”

“…The cutoff value of ≥0.9 mm was chosen due to the latest European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology (ESH/ESC) hypertension guidelines ( 29 ). For the aortic arch a higher cutoff value was chosen due to generally higher aortic arch IMT values among our healthy controls, according to results from earlier studies ( 30 ). Plaques were assessed regarding echogenicity (low–medium–high), distribution, irregularity (homogenicity or heterogenicity) and cap (smooth surface or ulceration).…”

Abdominal Aortic Intima-Media Thickness Predicts Coronary Artery Disease Severity in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris: A Prospective Study

“…Many previous studies have shown that AAIMT is a marker of preclinical atherosclerosis in children and adolescents. [17][18][19] Although the evaluation of AAIMT with recently developing devices has become of interest in adult patients, [20][21][22][23] there is not much data due to the restriction of the examination mainly caused by abdominal adipose tissue. Nevertheless, the proportion of patients with missing data due to a visualizing problem has been reported to be as low as 7% in a study conducted on adults.…”

“…They also identified increased AAIMT as an indicator of target organ damage. 22 A recent study demonstrated that the AAIMT value is more useful than the cIMT value as an indicator of macrovascular organ involvement in hypertensive patients. 20 Our results are consistent with studies comparing AAIMT and cIMT values which were conducted on adults; AAIMT was superior to cIMT in predicting intermediate or high SS.…”

Diagnostic accuracy of carotid intima media thickness by B-mode ultrasonography in coronary artery disease patients

“…In 2000, an American Heart Association (AHA) conference concluded that CIMT "can now be considered for further clarification of CHD risk assessment at the request of a physician", provided that it is performed by an experienced laboratory [9]. In a very recent study conducted by Bulut et al, CIMT was also reported to determine the target organ damage in patients with CAD [10]. CIMT was significantly linked to CVDs including myocardial infarction, transient ischaemic attack, etc.…”