title: Coronary artery tortuosity: comparison with retinal arteries and carotid intima-media thickness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We conducted a prospective study to investigate the possible relationship between the tortuosity of coronary arteries (TCA) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and also compare TCA to retinal artery tortuosity.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and five participants with nonsignificant coronary plaque or normal coronary angiogram were included. To determine subclinical atherosclerosis, maximum CIMT was measured. Retinal tortuosity was evaluated ophthalmically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among all demographic variables and risk factors, only female gender and height were significantly associated with TCA (p = 0.001, p = 0.01, respectively). Retinal artery tortuosity and retinal artery atherosclerosis were more common inpatients with TCA compared to patients without TCA (p < 0.001, R = 0.6; p = 0.002, R = 0.4, respectively). CIMT was greater in participants with TCA than patients without TCA (p = 0.001), and also the presence of carotid artery plaque was more common in patients with TCA (p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis and TCA (p = 0.005, R = 0.3). Likewise, a significant correlation was found between subclinical atherosclerosis and retinal artery tortuosity (p = 0.02, R = 0.3). Multivariate analysis identified female gender (p < 0.008), retinal arterytortuosity (p < 0.001), and CIMT (p = 0.02) as independent predictors of TCA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that, whatever the mechanism is: 1) TCA is associated with female gender and short stature; 2) TCA is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis even in patients with entirely normal appearing coronary arteries on coronary angiography; 3) Retinal artery tortuosity is correlated with TCA and can be a surrogate for systemic arterial tortuosity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Gaziantep University, School of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey. vedatdavutoglu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Davutoglu
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Seydi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okumus
authors.forename: Tuncer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Gurkan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tatar
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gurler
authors.forename: Suleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sari
authors.forename: Hayri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alici
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Altunbas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001827:Body Height; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015897:Comorbidity; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002537:Intracranial Arteriosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012161:Retinal Artery / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors