Female gender is independently associated with increased carotid temperatures in patients with coronary artery disease.
BACKGROUND
Limited are the data regarding the sex differences in functional carotid artery characteristics. Microwave Radiometry (MWR) is a new noninvasive method, which measures in vivo instantly the internal temperatures of tissues, reflecting inflammation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), gender related differences apply in carotid plaque functional characteristics, as assessed by MWR.


METHODS
Consecutive patients with significant CAD were included in the study. All patients underwent evaluation of both carotid arteries by 1) ultrasound and 2) MWR. During ultrasound common carotid IMT and plaque thickness were assessed according to Mannheim consensus. During MWR measurements, temperature difference (ΔT) was assigned as maximal temperature along the carotid artery minus minimum. ΔT ≥0.90°C was assigned as high ΔT.


RESULTS
In total 364 patients with significant CAD were included in the study. Of these 54 were female and 310 were male. Max plaque thickness and ccIMT were similar between males and females (2.38±1.16 vs. 2.46±1.12mm, p=0.63 and 0.944±0.172 vs. 0.942±0.169mm, p=0.96). Carotid arteries of females showed higher ΔT values (1.16±0.48 vs 0.87±0.45°C, p<0.001). Interestingly, females had more commonly high ΔT values bilaterally (35.2% vs 15.5%, p=0.001). In multivariate analysis, female sex was independently associated with bilateral high ΔT, when adjusted to potential covariates (OR=2.78, 95% CI=1.42-5.45, p=0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with CAD, sex specific differences apply in functional but not in structural carotid artery characteristics. Whether this discrepancy has prognostic significance, remains to be clarified in future studies.
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Georgios
G
Benetos
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: ktoutouz@gmail.com.
Konstantinos
K
Toutouzas
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Ioannis
I
Matsoukis
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Maria
M
Drakopoulou
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Fotini
F
Mitropoulou
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Iosif
I
Koutagiar
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Charalampia
C
Nikolaou
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Konstantinos
K
Stathogiannis
Centre for Materials, Research and Innovation, University of Bolton, Bolton, UK.
Elias
E
Siores
First Department of Cardiology, Athens Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Dimitris
D
Tousoulis
D000368:Aged; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008872:Microwaves; D008875:Middle Aged; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods; D012727:Sex Characteristics
Carotid artery; Gender differences; Inflammation; Microwave radiometry