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A Methodological Approach to Non-invasive Assessments of Vascular Function and Morphology
Published on: February 7, 2015
Correlation between coronary artery disease severity, left ventricular mass index and carotid intima media thickness,
Marco M Ciccone1, Pietro Scicchitano, Annapaola Zito
1Cardiovascular Diseases Section, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. ciccone@cardio.uniba.it
Insights
Radio Frequency-Quality Intima Media Thickness (RFQIMT) effectively assesses common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT). This advanced method correlates well with coronary artery disease severity and left ventricular mass index in patients with significant coronary stenosis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Atherosclerosis Research
- Diagnostic Ultrasound
Background:
- Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) is a recognized indicator of systemic atherosclerosis.
- Radio Frequency-Quality Intima Media Thickness (RFQIMT) offers enhanced accuracy and reproducibility for measuring arterial wall thickness.
- Early detection of arterial wall changes is crucial for managing cardiovascular risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the association between coronary artery disease (CAD), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), and CCA-IMT.
- To assess the utility of the RFQIMT method in patients with significant coronary artery stenosis.
- To determine the relationship between RFQIMT measurements and cardiovascular risk factors.
Main Methods:
- 115 patients with significant coronary artery stenosis (≥70% luminal obstruction) were studied.
- Coronary angiograms were analyzed for stenosis severity and extent.
- Patients underwent echocardiography and carotid ultrasound using the RFQIMT method.
Main Results:
- Higher CCA-IMT, measured by RFQIMT, was significantly associated with dyslipidemia, increased left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and a greater number of stenosed coronary arteries.
- LVMI showed a strong positive correlation with IMT (r = 0.91; P < 0.001).
- Multivariate regression confirmed RFQIMT's significant association with dyslipidemia, LVMI, and coronary lesion extent.
Conclusions:
- RFQIMT is a sophisticated and accurate method for carotid ultrasound evaluation.
- Utilizing RFQIMT in patients with significant coronary artery stenosis can improve the assessment of coronary lesion burden.
- This technique aids in the comprehensive evaluation of cardiovascular disease risk.
Background:
Intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (CCA-IMT) is a validated marker of systemic atherosclerosis process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between coronary artery disease (CAD), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and CCA-IMT, assessed by Radio Frequency-Quality Intima Media Thickness (RFQIMT) method, the next generation of IMT real-time measurement, based on the direct analysis of the radiofrequency signal and endowed with high accuracy and reproducibility in early detection of arterial wall thickness.
Methods:
115 patients (76 men, mean age: 65.1 ± 12 years) referred to our department and shown significant (≥ 70% luminal obstruction) stenosis at least in one major epicardial coronary artery were studied. Coronary angiograms were divided for severity and extent of the disease: 79 patients (69%) had one, 24 patients (21%) two, 12 patients (10%) three major epicardial coronary arteries with ≥ 70% stenosis. All patients underwent echocardiography and carotid ultrasound examination, assessed by RF.
Results:
Dividing RFQIMT data in tertiles, dyslipidaemia (31 patients with IMT ≥ 1.20 mm vs 16 with IMT = 0.91-1.19 vs 25 with IMT ≤ 0.9, p = 0.004), LVMI (153.5 ± 20.6 g/m² in IMT ≥ 1.20 mm vs 131.2 ± 8.4 g/m² in IMT = 0.91-1.19 mm vs 114.3 ± 11.1 g/m² in IMT ≤ 0.9 mm, P < 0.001) and number of high stenosed coronary arteries (IMT ≥ 1.20 mm population more often showed three vessel diseases than IMT ≤ 0.90 mm one, P < 0.001) seemed to be significantly related to CCA-IMT increases. Furthermore, LVMI is positively related to IMT (r = 0.91; P < 0.001). In a multivariate regression model (R2 = 0.88), RFQIMT remained significantly associated with the dyslipidemia (regression coefficient ± standard error [SE]: 0.057 ± 0.023; p = 0.017), LVMI (regression coefficient ± SE: 0.01 ± 0.001; P < 0.0001) and number of damaged coronaries (regression coefficient ± SE: 0.0174 ± 0.028; P < 0.0001).
Conclusions:
RFQIMT is a sophisticated method for carotid ultrasound evaluation. Its evaluation in patients with at least one important major epicardial coronary vessel stenosis would help the accuracy in the general assessment of the number of coronary lesions in these patients.
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