title: Lack of difference in the intimal medial thickness between the left and right carotid arteries in the young.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Carotid intimal medial thickening (c-IMT) is an established surrogate marker for atherosclerosis. There have been sporadic reports about an increase of c-IMT on the left carotid artery among populations with a mean age of +/-50 years.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there is a difference in c-IMT between the two carotid arteries in a group of young healthy adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-eight healthy adults with a mean age of 28 years underwent blood tests to evaluate various cardiovascular risk factors as well as automated ultrasonic measurements of their c-IMT on both carotid arteries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant difference was noted between c-IMT on both sides. In fact, the c-IMT on left carotid artery in men (n = 52) was 0.625 +/- 0.078 mm while on the right carotid it was 0.626 +/- 0.075 mm (P = 0.884). The values for women (n = 46) were 0.615 +/- 0.059 mm and for men 0.622 +/- 0.0618 mm (P = 0.582), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As opposed to a noted increase of c-IMT on the left carotid artery in older individuals, we did not find this difference in a group of young and relatively healthy adults. It is possible that if mechanical stress forces contribute to an enhanced left c-IMT, it takes a relatively long time to become evident.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine D, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine Tel Aviv University, 5 Weizman Street, 64239 Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arbel
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maharshak
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gal-Oz
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berliner
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Bornstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology