title: Prospective comparison of a cohort with asymptomatic carotid bruit and a population-based cohort without carotid bruit.
abstract: This study is a prospective analysis of the predictive value of diffuse and localized carotid bruit. Patients with asymptomatic carotid bruits are compared with a population-based age- and sex-matched control group known not to have carotid bruit, in regard to subsequent transient ischemic attack, stroke, and death. Each person was followed until death or for 5 years. Among the 566 patients with asymptomatic carotid bruit, the annual stroke rate given survival was 1.5%/yr or 7.5% at 5 years by actuarial analysis. The annual stroke rate given survival for the 428 patients in the population-based cohort was 0.5%/yr or 2.4% at 5 years. Patients with localized carotid bruit were not significantly different from those with diffuse carotid bruits in regard to subsequent cerebral ischemic events (p = 0.11). These data indicate that patients with asymptomatic diffuse or localized carotid bruit are approximately three times more likely to have ischemic stroke than an age- and sex-matched population sample known not to have carotid bruit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Wiebers
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Whisnant
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Sandok
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: O'Fallon
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001314:Auscultation; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors