title: Usefulness of carotid intima-media thickness measurement as an indicator of generalized atherosclerosis: findings from autopsy analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ultrasound-determined carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is widely used as an indicator of generalized atherosclerotic burden, but there are limited autopsy findings in support of the association, directly.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed an autopsy analysis (n = 111, mean 68.8 years; 65.0% men; 86% non-cardiovascular disease death) to examine the associations of microscopy-determined carotid IMT including plaque thickness with the severity of atherosclerosis in the generalized arteries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Microscopy-determined carotid IMT was associated with the extent of intima/media layer ratio of the vasculature, a marker of atherosclerosis, in each structure examined, i.e., coronary artery, cerebrovasculature, thoracic aorta, abdominal aorta, and iliac artery (R = 0.31-0.42; all P < 0.01). The prevalence of a necrotic core in the coronary artery, cerebrovasculature, thoracic aorta, abdominal aorta, and iliac artery increased in accordance with increasing microscopy-determined carotid IMT (all P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our autopsy analysis confirms the validity of carotid IMT including plaque thickness as an indicator of generalized atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, 5200 Kihara, Kiyotake, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwakiri
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kinta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatakeyama
authors.forename: Kousuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marutsuka
authors.forename: Shouichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Kazuomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kario
authors.forename: Yujiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asada
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D001344:Autopsy; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007083:Iliac Artery / Q000473:pathology; D002537:Intracranial Arteriosclerosis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009336:Necrosis; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index