Intima-media thickness and diameter of carotid and femoral arteries in children, adolescents and adults from the Stanislas cohort: effect of age, sex, anthropometry and blood pressure

Objectives To study carotid and femoral intima-media thicknesses and diamet ers in relation to age, sex, morphologic status and blood pressure. Partici pants The subjects were 369 men and women (aged 10-54 years) from the Stani slas cohort, with no known cardiovascular disease. Methods Intima-media thicknesses and diameters were measured by B-mode ultr asonography, The effects of sex, age, smoking, anthropometric variables, ch olesterol and blood pressure were studied using bivariate and regression an alysis. Results Carotid and femoral intima-media thicknesses were not affected by a ge nor by sex up to 18 years of age, Thereafter, they increased sharply in men and remained higher than in women. Values were correlated with systolic blood pressure only in men, and with fat-free mass in children and young a dults only at the femoral site, Smoking, body mass index and fat mass were associated with intima-media thicknesses only in adults, Carotid diameter w as little affected by age during childhood and in adults. Femoral diameter increased up to the age of 18 in both sexes and remained unaffected by age thereafter, This increase was more pronounced in boys, and so values became consistently greater in males aged over 14 years. Carotid diameter was cor related with body mass index or fat mass whereas femoral diameter was corre lated with weight or fat-free-mass in children and men, The opposite was ob served in women. Conclusion Sex differences occur before adolescence for arterial diameter, but only at an adult age for intima-media thickness, In young subjects, car otid geometry seems to be influenced by blood pressure and excess body weig ht, while femoral artery geometry seems to be related to blood pressure and body growth. J Hypertens 1998, 16:1593-1602 (C) Lippincott Williams & Wilk ins.