title: Impact of airflow limitation on carotid atherosclerosis in coronary artery disease patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Both airflow limitation and smoking are established cardiovascular risk factors. However, their interaction as risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis in coronary artery disease patients remains unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of the interaction between airflow limitation and smoking status on the severity of carotid atherosclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We categorized the 234 enrolled patients with coronary artery disease into four groups: never-smokers with normal pulmonary function (group A), never-smokers with airflow limitation (group B), ever-smokers with normal pulmonary function (group C), and ever-smokers with airflow limitation (group D).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of airflow limitation in the enrolled patients was 23.1% (ever-smokers: 15.8%, never-smokers: 7.3%). The prevalence of severe carotid atherosclerosis was 28.2, 29.4, 41.3, and 45.9%, respectively, in the four groups (group D vs. group A, p = 0.035). Even after multivariate adjusting for confounding factors, ever-smokers with airflow limitation were independently associated with severe carotid atherosclerosis (odds ratio 2.89, 95% confidence interval, 1.19-7.00, p = 0.019).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ever-smokers with airflow limitation were significantly associated with severe carotid atherosclerosis among patients with coronary artery disease. These findings also provide additional insight into the correlation between airflow limitation and poor cardiovascular clinical outcomes.
authors: Department of Cardiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors: Mohammad Shoaib
authors: MS
authors: Hamrah
authors: Susumu
authors: S
authors: Suzuki
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Ishii
authors: Yohei
authors: Y
authors: Shibata
authors: Yosuke
authors: Y
authors: Tatami
authors: Naohiro
authors: N
authors: Osugi
authors: Tomoyuki
authors: T
authors: Ota
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Kawamura
authors: Akihito
authors: A
authors: Tanaka
authors: Hiromichi
authors: H
authors: Aso
authors: Kyosuke
authors: K
authors: Takeshita
authors: Junichi
authors: J
authors: Sakamoto
authors: Yoshinori
authors: Y
authors: Hasegawa
authors: Toyoaki
authors: T
authors: Murohara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications*; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*