[Intima-media complex thickness of common carotid artery as a risk factor for stroke]

Intima-Media Thickness (IMT) of Common Carotid Artery (CCA) could be seen as the atherosclerotic risk factors' final morphological effect. We investigated the hypothesis that IMT of CCA is significantly different in sex- and age-matched groups of persons with stroke and healthy subjects. 47 patients with first-ever atherothrombotic stroke proven by CT were investigated. Patients with atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease and left ventricular hyperthrophy were excluded. The IMT of CCA were estimated by High-Resolution B-Mode Ultrasonography. All the patients had bilateral IMT measurement within 20 mm proximal to the carotid bulb on the far wall in the anterioposterior and laterolateral plane. The results were compared with those obtained in 50 healthy sex- and age-matched subjects. We found a strong association between IMT and stroke (p < 0.0001). Mean IMT was 0.96 mm (SD 0.18) in patients and 0.70 mm (SD 0.09) in controls. The presence of atherosclerotic plaques was 0.34 and 0.08 for patients and controls respectively (p = 0.0025). IMT of CCA is strongly positively associated with the risk for stroke. The frequency of atherosclerotic plaques in CCAs is statistically significantly higher in stroke patients than in control group.