title: [Correlation between aortic atherosclerosis at transesophageal echocardiography and coronary atherosclerosis].
abstract: The aim of this study was to test the relationship between atherosclerotic plaques in the thoracic aorta detected by transesophageal echocardiography and coronary artery disease detected by angiography. A prospective study was carried out in 103 patients who underwent coronary angiography. All patients underwent transesophageal echocardiography with imaging of the thoracic aorta. Aortic intimal changes were classified in 4 grades. The detection of aortic atheroma plaques was the strongest predictor of coronary artery disease. The presence of aortic plaques on transesophageal study had a sensitivity of 97.6% and a specificity of 80% for angiographically proved obstructive coronary artery disease. The positive predictive value of aortic plaque for obstructive coronary artery disease was 95.3% and the negative predictive value was 88.9%. Compared to the other segments, the detection of atherosclerotic plaque in the descending aorta has the highest sensitivity but the specificity was the highest in the ascending aorta. With older age and in women the specificity decreased, while the sensitivity increased.
authors.affiliation: Service de cardiologie, l'hôpital Habib Thameur, 8, rue Ali Ben Ayed, Montfleury 1 008, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraiem
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fennira
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben Hmida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Battich
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hmam
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bouraoui
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Slimane
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity