title: Prevalence of asymptomatic carotid stenosis in Korea based on health screening population.
abstract: We attempted to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of carotid artery stenosis in Korea. Twenty thousand seven hundred twelve individuals who underwent carotid artery ultrasonography for health screening between March 2005 and March 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. The population was divided into four groups, according to the degree of stenosis, as Group A, below 29%; Group B, 30% to 49%; Group C, 50% to 74%; Group D, above 75%. The medical records of the individuals were investigated, and Fisher's exact test, chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests and a binary logistic regression model were used for statistical analysis. The prevalence of carotid stenosis was Group B, 5.5%; Group C, 0.9%; Group D, 0.1%. Old age, male gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease were significantly higher in Groups C and D (P = 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.048, and 0.001, respectively). Among the males aged over 65 yr, the prevalence of carotid stenosis ≥ 50% and ≥ 30% were 4.0% and 18.2%, respectively. Asymptomatic carotid stenosis is not uncommon in Korea. Carotid ultrasonography is necessary for people with above-listed risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Nam
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.forename: Shin-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Nari
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seonwoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Wook
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong-Ik
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000150:complications; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography