[Common carotid arterial diameter and coronary artery disease]

The clinical significance of the diameter of common carotid artery (CCA) measured ultrasonographically has not been sufficiently established. The object of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship of the ultrasonic CCA diameter with coronary artery disease (CAD). In the male patients (n=169, mean age: 61 years) who had no apparent carotid arterial stenosis and cerebrovascular disease, a history of CAD, current smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, serum low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate and ultrasonic measures of CCA diameter were analyzed. A total of 25 patients had a history of CAD (15%). The CCA diameters of patients with CAD were significantly higher than those of patients without CAD (7.9 +/- 1.0 mm and 7.4 +/- 0.9 mm; p = 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic curve of boundary value of CCA diameter revealed an area under the curve to identify the patients with CAD (0.63, p = 0.04). When the cut off value was considered 8.5 mm, the odds ratio was 4.50 (95% confidence interval = 1.71-11.84, p < 0.01), and the ratio were not largely altered in multivariate logistic regression analyses. The CCA diameter may therefore serve as a useful predictive marker for CAD in men.