title: Prevalence of carotid artery stenosis in Chinese patients with angina pectoris.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) in Chinese patients with angina pectoris is unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population consisted of 989 consecutive patients who were scheduled to undergo nonemergent coronary angiography for suspicion of coronary artery disease (CAD) because of angina pectoris between January 2013 and December 2014. All patients underwent carotid ultrasonography to screen for CAS within one month before or after coronary angiography. We defined cases with 0-50%, 50%-70%, and >70% stenosis as mild, moderate, and severe stenosis, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CAD was presented in 853 patients (86.2%) of whom 191 patients (19.3%) had 1-vessel disease, 246 patients (24.9%) had 2-vessel disease and 416 patients (42.1%) had 3-vessel disease; left main trunk stenosis present in 137 patients (13.9%). In carotid ultrasonography, the prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe stenosis as well as that of total occlusion of the carotid artery was 54.5%, 13%, 4.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Significant CAS (>50% stenosis and total occlusion) was present in 10.3%, 13.9%, 19.9% and 22.8% of patients with 0-vessel, 1-vessel, 2-vessel and 3-vessel CAD. The severity of CAS was directly correlated (r=0.194, P<0.001) with the extent of CAD. The independent predictors of severe CAS and total carotid artery occlusion were increased age, male sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperhomocysteinemia, a previous history of stroke and 3-vessel CAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of CAS was not rare in China when compared with that in western countries, and the presence of CAS was weakly correlated with the extent of CAD. Screening for CAS should be recommended in Chinese patients with CAD, especially in those with one or more CAS-associated risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Jianbin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Rongwei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Xueqiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Zhidong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
keywords: Chinese; Coronary artery disease (CAD); carotid artery stenosis (CAS)