Korean Circ J.  2007 Aug;37(8):380-384. 10.4070/kcj.2007.37.8.380.

The Serum Lipid Level is Associated with Intimal Thickness of the Carotid Artery for Patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis

• Kang MI
• Kim WS
• Kwon TG
• Hyun DW
• Bae JH

• KMID: 2029066
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2007.37.8.380

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It's not clear whether the serum lipid level is associated with the individual carotid arterial wall thickness for patients suffering with coronary atherosclerosis, although hypercholesterolemia is associated with an increased carotid IMT. We sought to evaluate the association between the serum lipid level and the individual carotid arterial wall thickness (intimal thickness (IT) and medial thickness (MT)) as well as the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) for patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
The carotid arterial wall thickness was measured using high-resolution B-mode ultrasound in 139 consecutive patients (58+/-11 years old, 75 males) with coronary atherosclerosis by performing coronary angiography.
RESULTS
Measurement of the individual arterial wall thickness was possible in 126 patients (90.6%) out of all the study subjects. The carotid IMT was correlated with the total cholesterol (r=0.207, p=0.015) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (r=0.237, p=0.006). The carotid IT was correlated with the total cholesterol (r=0.210, p=0.020), triglyceride (r=0.212, p=0.018), and LDL-cholesterol (r=0.246, p=0.006), whereas the MT did not show any significant correlation with the serum lipid level. Multivariate analysis disclosed that the serum LDL cholesterol level was associated with the carotid IMT and IT for the patients with coronary atherosclerosis, but it was not correlated with the MT.
CONCLUSION
This study suggests that the serum LDL cholesterol level is more closely associated with the carotid IT than the IMT for patients with coronary atherosclerosis, and each carotid arterial wall has a different response to the serum lipid level.

Keyword

Carotid arteries; Dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis

MeSH Terms

Carotid Arteries*
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, LDL
Coronary Angiography
Coronary Artery Disease*
Humans
Hypercholesterolemia
Lipoproteins
Multivariate Analysis
Triglycerides
Ultrasonography
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, LDL
Lipoproteins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Separate measurements of IT, MT and IMT using a new method devised for this study. IT: intima thickness, MT: media thickness, IMT: intima-media thickness.

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