Age-Wise Association of Carotid Intima Media Thickness in Ischemic Stroke

Ischemic stroke is often a sequel of atherosclerotic risk factors. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a surrogate marker of early atherosclerotic changes.

It was hypothesized that CIMT is associated with ischemic stroke in adults across all ages.

A case control study was performed on 163 diagnosed cases of first-time ischemic stroke and age-(±1 SD) and gender-matched healthy control attendants reporting at a tertiary care hospital. Data were collected on atherosclerotic risk factors for ischemic stroke. CIMT from both the carotids was measured using carotid vascular Doppler. The demographic profile and CIMT with atherosclerotic risk factors of cases and controls across different age groups were compared using unpaired t test if they passed the test of normality, else the Mann-Whitney test was used. OR for vascular risk factors for the development of stroke was calculated. The relationship of CIMT to atherosclerotic risk factors was analyzed by using Spearman correlation and regression analysis. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

Age-specific value of CIMT was significantly higher in stroke cases than in age-matched controls across all age groups. Right CIMT, along with the history of hypertension (HTN; OR 2.3), are important risk factors for ischemic stroke in the younger age group (20-40 years). With increasing age along with the history of HTN and right CIMT (OR >7), presence of plaque (OR 6.3) and daily smoking (OR 5.1) are also significant risk factors. CIMT is significantly related to the daily alcohol and smoking intake and the presence of plaques. Right CIMT is positively related to increasing age in normal population (R² = 0.041; p < 0.001).

Right CIMT and comorbid HTN are significant risk factors associated with the development of ischemic stroke across all adult age groups.