title: Carotid ultrasound pulsatility indices and cardiovascular risk in Australian women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ultrasound-acquired internal carotid arterial (ICA) pulsatility indices (PI) have been demonstrated to be useful measures of cerebrovascular disease. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between carotid artery PI, cardiovascular risk and ischaemic heart disease in aging women.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty-eight female participants of the Longitudinal Assessment of Ageing in Women study, aged 48-85 years, were evaluated. The relationships between common carotid artery (CCA) and ICA Doppler PI to cardiovascular risk factors (age, body mass index, systolic and mean arterial blood pressure, smoking and diabetes), carotid-femoral (femPWV) and carotid-radial (radPWV) pulse wave velocities, and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) were assessed using Spearman's rank correlation (ρ), multiple regression and logistic regression. Dependent variables were Box-Cox transformed to meet linear regression assumptions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CCA and ICA PI were significantly correlated to femPWV (ρ = 0.414 and ρ = 0.544, respectively). Cardiovascular risk factors were significantly predictive of CCA PI (Adj R(2)  = 0.176, P < 0.01); however, their relationship to ICA PI (Adj R(2)  = 0.508, P < 0.01) was stronger. This result was comparable with the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and femPWV (Adj R(2)  = 0.561, P < 0.01). Age and systolic blood pressure were the dominant risk factors for IHD in this group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ICA PI is comparable with femPWV in its association with cardiovascular disease. PI does not improve the prediction of IHD over age and systolic blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Justin Alexander
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Oughton
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: Soo Keat
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Khoo
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coulthard
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015984:Causality; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016387:Women's Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: aging; cardiovascular risk; carotid artery; pulsatility index; pulse wave velocity