title: Equivalence of plaque score and intima-media thickness of carotid ultrasonography for predicting severe coronary artery lesion.
abstract: Carotid atherosclerosis appears to be predictive of myocardial infarction. Because several sonographical indices are available for carotid ultrasound (US), we compared "blindly" the potential utilities of those indices for predicting coronary lesions in 270 patients. Carotid atherosclerosis was evaluated by the following four indices: plaque score (PlaS), intima-media thickness (IMT) of common carotid artery (CCA-IMT), IMT of bulb to internal carotid artery (Bulb-ICA-IMT), and combined IMT measurement from all segments. The existence of coronary lesions was diagnosed by > 50% stenosis in diameter in coronary arteries. All indices were associated with coronary lesions independent of risk factors. By receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses, ROC areas defined by Bulb-ICA-IMT (0.76 to 0.86), combined IMT (0.76 to 0.86) and PS (0.76 to 0.87) were greater than that defined by CCA-IMT (0.64 to 0.76). In conclusion, PlaS, Bulb-ICA-IMT and combined IMT are equally effective and could be better than CCA-IMT for predicting coronary lesions in a population with cardiovascular risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics (A8), Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamagami
authors.forename: Kimito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Kohji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Naohiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oku
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hougaku
authors.forename: Toshiho
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuyama
authors.forename: Masayasu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Masatsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hori
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012372:ROC Curve; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography