Coronary and peripheral artery remodeling in patients undergoing PTCA: An intracoronary and transcutaneous ultrasound study

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the plaque bur den of nonstenotic coronary artery segments and the wall thickness of perip heral arteries using intracoronary and transcutaneous ultrasound imaging, r espectively. Intracoronary ultrasound (CVIS, 3.5 Fr) was performed in 27 pa tients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Carotid a rteries were imaged by B-mode ultrasound with semiautomatic edge detection and radial arteries by high resolution A-mode echotracking (NIUS 2). Quanti tative measurements included coronary artery intima-media cross-sectional a rea (IMCSA) and cross-sectional narrowing (CSN), as well as intima-media th ickness (IMT) and lumen radius (r) of the common carotid and the radial art eries. Intima-media thickness was increased in coronary, carotid, and radia l arteries. Coronary arteries had an IMCSA of 7.7 +/- 2.5 mm(2) and a CSN o f 24% +/- 8%. Despite this moderate plaque burden, lumen area was preserved (12.3 +/- 4.2 mm(2)) because of compensatory enlargement of coronary arter ies. Right and left carotid and right radial arteries had an IMT of 575 +/- 78 mu m, 570 +/- 129 mu m, and 328 +/- 61 mu m, respectively. There was no correlation between coronary IMCSA and carotid IMT (r = 0.07) or radial IM T (r = 0.02), and there was no correlation between coronary CSN and carotid IMT/r (r = 0.12), or radial IMT/r (r = 0.25). In conclusion, in these pati ents with symptomatic ischemic disease no relationship between IMT of the c oronary arteries and IMT of carotid or radial arteries was found. Although increasingly popular, IMT of peripheral arteries may he of limited value as surrogate marker for the severity of coronary artery disease. (C) 1999 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.