Simple clinical method of average intima-media thickness measurement in the common carotid artery.
The wall thickness of the atherosclerotic common carotid artery may be quantitatively assessed by measuring of the intima-media thickness with high resolution B-mode ultrasonography. The reliability and reproducibility of a simple non-invasive planimetric method has been assessed. The interobserver, intraobserver, interreading and cardiac cycle dependent variabilities of intima-media thickness measurements in 150 randomly selected patients were evaluated. The mean absolute differences were 0.078 +/- 0.097 mm (interobserver), 0.064 +/- 0.052 and 0.048 +/- 0.05 mm (intraobserver), 0.016 +/- 0.037 and 0.018 +/- 0.038 (interreading), 0.072 +/- 0.076 and 0.054 +/- 0.061 (cardiac cycle dependent, pre-T and R-triggered). The results were satisfactory with coefficients of variation 13.1% (interobserver), 5.7-6% (intraobserver), 4-4.9% (interreading) and 7-8.5% (cardiac cycle dependent). This simple ultrasonic technique yielded highly reproducible measures of common carotid artery average intimal-medial thickness on the far wall and it appeared to be a reliable method for clinical investigations.
Csányi
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Department of Neurology, Aladár Petz County Hospital, Györ, Hungary.
Egervári
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D012016:Reference Values; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography