Reference values for intima-medial thickness of carotid and femoral arteries in subjects 20 to 60 years of age without cardiovascular risk factors.

Many studies have shown a close correlation between intima-medial thickness of the carotid artery measured by high resolution ultrasonography and the presence of coronary artery disease or atherogenic risk factors. However, r eference values for the value of intima-medial thickness (IMT) in healthy s ubjects have not yet been established. The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine the reference Values of carotid (C-IMT) and femoral intima-medial thickness (F-IMT) with respect to age and gender in healthy subjects (53 women and 45 men) aged 20 to 60, wi th no family or personal history of cardiovascular disease or atherogenic r isk factors, underwent high resolution colour echo-Doppler examination. The mean C-IMT was 556 +/- 57 mu m in women and 573 +/- 70 mu m in men (NS) , and the femoral equivalent was 543 +/- 63 mu m in women and 562 +/- 74 mu m in men (NS). Between the ages of 20 and 60. the C-IMT increased by 1.8 mu m per year (p < 0.03) in women and 3.4 mu m (p < 0.001) in men, the variations being resp ectively 1.2 mu m (NS) and 3.1 mu m (p < 0.002) in the femoral artery. Multiple regression analysis including gender and individual values of age, body mass index and lipid profile confirmed that only age was significantl y correlated to the increase in thickness. The authors conclude that the reference values of IMT do not differ with ge nder or site of analysis, but there is a slight influence with respect to a ge.