DECREASING COMMON CAROTID-ARTERY INTIMAL THICKNESS DURING HYPOLIPIDEMIC THERAPY

It has been demonstrated in recent years that ultrasound can be used t o measure common carotid artery intimal thickness; an increase in inti mal thickness is regarded as an early stage of atherosclerosis. This s tudy was designed to establish whether or not intimal thickness can be modulated by therapy. Twenty-nine patients with familial hyperlipopro teinemias had follow-up ultrasound of the common carotid artery after twenty-nine months of comprehensive therapy. In 21 patients with famil ial hypercholesterolemia, intimal thickness decreased from 0.83 to 0.6 8 mm (P<0.01), in 9 with familial combined hyperlipoproteinemia, the d ecrease was from 0.77 to 0.74 mm (a decrease was seen in only 50% of p atients). With the group taken as a whole, the larger decrease was obs erved in patients treated with statins while the reduction was less ma rked in those administered fibrates. The authors found a decrease in c ommon carotid artery intimal thickness following hypolipidemic therapy in patients with hyperlipoproteinemias. Their impression is that this was a manifestation of atherosclerosis regression.