Asymptomatic myocardial ischemia in relation to carotid artery stenosis among patients with aortic aneurysm.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence of asymptomatic coronary artery stenosis in relation to carotid artery stenosis is influenced by the underlying disease and has yet to be clarified.


METHODS
A total of 124 consecutive Japanese patients with aortic aneurysm, but without symptoms of coronary artery stenosis, were divided into 2 groups on the basis of carotid ultrasonography: the carotid stenosis group (>or=50% luminal diameter narrowing) and the non-stenosis group. Myocardial imaging was performed using thalium-201 chloride and adenosine triphosphate disodium.


RESULTS
The mean age and incidence of both cerebrovascular disease and peripheral artery disease were significantly higher in the stenosis group (n=24) than the non-stenosis group (n=100). Defining both fixed and reversible hypoperfusion as positive on the basis of myocardial imaging, a significantly higher number of positive findings were found in the stenosis group (15/24; 62.5%) than in the non-stenosis group (32/100, 32.0%), (Odds ratio: 3.54; p<0.01). The distributions of hypoperfusion defects in the stenosis group were similar to those in the non-stenosis group, but fixed hypoperfusion was more frequently seen in the stenosis group.


CONCLUSIONS
The high prevalence of positive findings in the stenosis group indicates that carotid artery stenosis is frequently associated with coronary artery stenosis even in asymptomatic patients, and could be an indicator for advanced atherosclerosis of the coronary artery. The results confirm that stress myocardial imaging is invaluable in the detection of coronary artery stenosis, particularly in patients with carotid arteriosclerosis.
Iwamoto
T
T
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. i-wam@ma.kcom.ne.jp
Oyama
T
T
Shizuka
K
K
Takasaki
M
M
Chikamori
T
T
Ishimaru
S
S
D000368:Aged; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000150:complications*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015995:Prevalence