Acoustic shadowing on B-mode ultrasound of the carotid artery predicts CHD

The relationship between carotid artery lesions (CALs), with and without ac oustic shadowing (AS) as an index of arterial mineralization, and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) was examined in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Co mmunities study cohort. Among 12,375 individuals, ages 45-64 years, free of CHD at baseline, 399 CHD events occurred between 1987-1995, In a 3-cm segm ent centered at the carotid bifurcation, CALs with and without AS mere iden tified by B-mode ultrasound (US), After adjustment for the major CHD risk f actors, the CHD hazard ratio (HR) for women with CAL without AS compared to women without CAL was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.22, 2.60) and the HR comparing women with CAL with AS to women with CAL without AS was 1.73 (95% CI: 1.07, 2.80 ), Corresponding HRs for men were 1.59 (95% CI: 1.22, 2.07) and 1.04 (95% C I: 0.72, 1.51), CALs predicted CHD events; this association was stronger fo r mineralized CALs in women, but not men. (C) 2001 World Federation for Ult rasound in Medicine & Biology.