Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology
Volume 35, Issue 6 , Pages 955-961 , June 2009

Wall Irregularity Rather Than Intima-Media Thickness is Associated with Nearby Atherosclerosis

  • Iulia M. Graf

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Floris H.B.M. Schreuder

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Maastricht Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Jeroen M. Hameleers

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Werner H. Mess

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Maastricht Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Robert S. Reneman

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Arnold P.G. Hoeks

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: Arnold P.G. Hoeks, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering, CARIM, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Received 19 September 2008 ,Revised 12 December 2008 ,Accepted 16 December 2008.

References 

  1. Armentano RL, Graf S, Barra JG, Velikovsky G, Baglivo H, Sanchez R, et al. Carotid wall viscosity increase is related to intima-media thickening in hypertensive patients. Hypertension. 1998;31:534–539
  2. Bernard S, Sérusclat A, Targe F, Charrière S, Roth O, Beaune J, et al. Incremental predictive value of carotid ultrasonography in the assessment of coronary risk in a cohort of asymptomatic type 2 diabetic subjects. Diabetes Care. 2005;28:1158–1162
  3. Bots ML, Hofman A, Grobbee DE. Increased common carotid intima-media thickness. Adaptive response or a reflection of atherosclerosis? Findings from the Rotterdam study. Stroke. 1997;28:2442–2447
  4. Braun RM, Bertino RE, Milbrandt J, Bray M. Ultrasound imaging of carotid artery stenosis: Application of the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound Consensus Criteria to a Single Institution Clinical Practice. Ultrasound Q. 2008;24:161–166
  5. D'Agostino RB, Wolf PA, Belanger AM, Kannel WB. Stroke risk profile: Adjustment for antihypertensive medication. The Framingham Study. Stroke. 1994;25:40–43
  6. Grant EG, Benson CB, Moneta GL, Alexandrov AV, Baker JD, Bluth EI. Carotid artery stenosis: Gray-scale and Doppler ultrasound diagnosis–Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound Consensus Conference. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2003;19:190–198
  7. Hermans M, Kooman JP, Bradenburg V, Ketteler M, Damoiseaux JGMC, Cohen Tervaert JW, et al. Spatial inhomogeneities of common carotid artery intima media is increased in dialysis patients. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2007;22:1205–1212
  8. Howard G, Sharrett AR, Heiss G, Evans GW, Chambless LE, Riley WA, et al. Carotid artery intimal-medial thickness distribution in general populations as evaluated by B-mode ultrasound. ARIC Investigators. Stroke. 1993;24:1297–1304
  9. Meinders JM, Brands PJ, Willigers JM, Kornet L, Hoeks AP. Assessment of the spatial homogeneity of artery dimension parameters with high frame rate 2D B-mode. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2001;27:785–794
  10. O'Leary DH, Polak JF, Kronmal RA, Manolio TA, Burke GL, Wolfson SK. Carotid artery intima and media thickness as a risk factor for myocardial infarction and stroke in older adults. N Engl J Med. 1999;340:14–22
  11. Reneman RS, Hoeks AP. Noninvasive vascular ultrasound: An asset in vascular medicine. Cardiovasc Res. 2000;45:27–35
  12. Riley WA, Barnes RW, Applegate WB, Dempsey R, Hartwell T, Davis VG, et al. Reproducibility of noninvasive ultrasonic measurement of carotid atherosclerosis: The asymptomatic carotid artery plaque study. Stroke. 1992;23:1062–1068
  13. Rossi AC, Brands PJ, Hoeks AP. Automatic recognition of the common carotid artery in longitudinal ultrasound B-mode scans. Med Image Anal. 2008;12:653–665
  14. Saba L, Caddeo G, Sanfilippo R, Montisci R, Mallarini G. CT and ultrasound in the study of ulcerated carotid plaque compared with surgical results: Potentialities and advantages of multidetector row CT angiography. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2007;28:1061–1066
  15. Sakaguchi M, Kitagawa K, Nagai Y, Yamagami H, Kondo K, Matsushita K, et al. Equivalence of plaque score and intima-media thickness of carotid ultrasonography for predicting severe coronary artery lesion. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2003;29:367–371
  16. Smilde TJ, van den Berkmotel FWPJ, Boers GHJ, Wollersheim H, de Boo T, van Langen H, et al. Carotid and femoral artery wall thickness and stiffness in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease with special emphasis on hyperhomocysteinemia. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1998;18:1958–1963
  17. Touboul PJ, Elbaz A, Koller C, Lucas C, Andrai V, Chedru F, et al. Common carotid artery intima-media thickness and brain infarction. Circulation. 2000;102:313–318
  18. Touboul PJ, Labreuche J, Vicaut E, Amarenco P. Carotid intima-media thickness, plaques, and Framingham risk score as independent determinants of stroke risk. Stroke. 2005;36:1741–1745
  19. Van Bortel LM, Balkestein EJ, van der Heijden-Spek JJ, Vanmolkot FH, Staessen JA, Kragten JA, et al. Noninvasive assessment of local arterial pulse pressure: Comparison of applanation tonometry and echo-tracking. J Hypertens. 2001;19:1037–1044
  20. Willekes C, Brands PJ, Willigers JM, Hoeks APG, Reneman RS. Assessment of local differences in intima-media thickness in the human carotid artery. J Vasc Res. 1999;36:222–228
  21. Wilson PW, D'Agostino RB, Levy D, Belanger AM, Silbershatz H, Kannel WB. Prediction of coronary heart disease using risk factors categories. Circulation. 1998;97:1837–1847
  22. Zureik M, Touboul PJ, Bonithon-Kopp C, Courbon D, Berr C, Leroux C, et al. Cross-sectional and 4-year longitudinal associations between brachial pulse pressure and common carotid intima-media thickness in a general population. The Eva Study. Stroke. 1999;30:550–555

PII: S0301-5629(08)00606-6

doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2008.12.016

Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology
Volume 35, Issue 6 , Pages 955-961 , June 2009