scholarly journals Evaluation of Clinical Variables Associated with Increased Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Middle-Aged Hypertensive Women

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Trindade ◽  
Renata Brum Martucci ◽  
Adriana K. Burlá ◽  
Wille Oigman ◽  
Mario Fritsch Neves ◽  
...  

It has been previously documented that carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is a predictor of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to identify clinical parameters associated with an increased cIMT treated hypertensive women. Female patients (n=116) with essential hypertension, aged 40–65 years, were included in this study. Vascular ultrasound was performed and the patients were divided into two groups according to the values of cIMT (< or ≥0.9 mm). Patients with greater cIMT presented significantly higher systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure. Serum HDL-cholesterol was significantly lower and CRP was significantly higher in the same group. There was a significant correlation between cIMT and age (r=0.25,P=0.007), systolic blood pressure (r=0.19,P=0.009), pulse pressure (r=0.30,P=0.001), and LDL-cholesterol (r=0.19,P=0.043). cIMT was correlated to CRP (r=0.31,P=0.007) and negatively correlated to HDL-cholesterol (r=0.33,P=0.001). In logistic regression, only HDL-cholesterol, CRP, and pulse pressure were shown to be independent variables associated to increased cIMT. In conclusion, pulse pressure, HDL-cholesterol, and CRP are variables correlated with cIMT in treated hypertensive women.

Circulation ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (suppl_16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick O Yerly ◽  
Nicolas Rodondi ◽  
Fred Paccaud ◽  
Pierre Vogt ◽  
Pascal Bovet

Introduction: Ultrasound detection of sub-clinical atherosclerosis (ATS) is a useful mean to identify subjects at high risk of cardiovascular (CV) events. Most studies have evaluated intima-media thickness (IMT) at the carotid artery level, but plaque-based markers (plaque thickness, plaque area) as well as the femoral artery level have been proposed as valid alternatives. The superiority of one method upon the others has not been demonstrated. The aim of this study is to compare the relationships between five indicators of ATS (IMT, mean / maximal plaque thickness, mean / maximal plaque area) at both carotid and femoral levels and conventional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in a population-based sample of middle-aged adults. Methods: High resolution B-mode ultrasound was performed in both right and left carotid and femoral arteries on 496 consecutive participants aged 45– 64 randomly selected from the general population. A plaque was defined as a focal IMT thickening ≥ 1.2 mm. CVRF included age, sex, current smoking, systolic blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and diabetes. Results : All CVRF were associated, independently of age, with each of the ATS markers at femoral level but only LDL-cholesterol and systolic blood pressure were consistently associated with ATS markers at carotid level. The table shows the adjusted R-squared values in a multivariate model with all CVRF. Variance (adjusted R 2 ) in predicting any of the ATS markers was larger at femoral than carotid levels. At both carotid and femoral levels, the CVRF accounted for more variance in predicting plaque-based markers than IMT. Conclusion: The stronger association of CVRF with ATS markers at the femoral than carotid levels and with plaque-based markers than with IMT suggest that markers assessed at femoral level and based on plaque morphology might be the most useful tools for assessing cardiovascular risk. These findings need to be confirmed in prospective studies with CV events.


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