Assessment of aortic atherosclerosis and carotid atherosclerosis in coronary artery disease

The present study investigated the relationship between aortic atherosclero sis and carotid atherosclerosis, and studied the effects of coronary risk f actors for these arteries. The subjects consisted of 78 patients with coron ary artery disease (CAD) and 69 patients without CAD. All subjects underwen t enhanced computed tomography and B-mode ultrasonography within a short ti me period to determine the extent of aorta and carotid atherosclerosis. Sig nificant correlations between maximal aortic wall thickness (MAWT) and aort ic wall volume (AWV) with carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were demonst rated. MAWT, AWV and IMT were significantly higher in patients with CAD com pared with controls (p=0.009, p=0.024, p=0.001, respectively). Furthermore, there were significant differences in MAWT, AWV and IMT among groups class ified by the number of coronary artery stenoses, and no significant differe nces among groups classified by risk factors, but it was shown that MAWT, A WV and IMT increased gradually as the risk factors increased in number. MAW T, AWV and IMT had positive correlations with age, systolic blood pressure and triglyceride, and a negative correlation with high density lipoprotein- cholesterol. This study demonstrated that both aortic atherosclerosis and c arotid atherosclerosis are closely correlated with coronary atherosclerosis , and that the atherosclerosis indices are independently associated with ag e and hyperlipidemia.