title: [Carotid intima-media thickness and its current usefulness].
abstract: Cardiovascular risk stratification is currently part of routine clinical practice to establish cardiovascular prevention strategies. A complementary approach to the assessment scales of cardiovascular risk stratification is the non-invasive evaluation of the atherosclerotic lesion to identify patients at high risk for cardiovascular complications. Carotid intima-media thickness is a non-invasive method based on ultrasound suitable for the detection of subclinical atherosclerosis. It allows us to stratify cardiovascular risk beyond conventional cardiovascular risk factors and would complement the cardiovascular risk functions. The inclusion of the carotid intima-media thickness in cardiovascular risk stratification may help identify asymptomatic individuals with a high cardiovascular risk not detected by current scales of cardiovascular risk stratification.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Espronceda, Madrid, España. antonioaguilarshea@gmail.com
authors.forename: Antonio L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Shea
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gallardo-Mayo
authors.forename: Elpidio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calvo Manuel
authors.forename: Jose L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Zamorano Gómez
mesh_terms: D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology*; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000473:pathology*