Is Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Increased in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease?

Background Because of the increasing numbers of congenital patients surviving into adulthood, early diagnosis and prevention of acquired cardiovascular disease is reasonable. The aim of this study was to detect diagnostic subgroups of adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) that have increased carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), a subclinical marker of cardiovascular damage. Methods and Results This study enrolled 831 ACHD patients (392 women, aged 38.8±11.7 years) from May 2015 to February 2019 at their regular outpatient visit. Far wall cIMT was measured using a semiautomatic ultrasound system at 4 angles. Age, sex, height, weight, blood pressure, smoking status, and antihypertensive medication were registered and entered in a multiple linear regression model to compare diagnostic subgroups to 191 healthy controls (111 women, aged 36.7±13.5 years). There were no significant differences in cIMT of ACHD (0.538±0.086 mm) compared with healthy controls (0.541±0.083 mm; P=0.649) after adjusting for the aforementioned covariates. Only patients with coarctation of the aorta showed significantly higher cIMT values (0.592±0.075 mm; P<0.001) compared with healthy controls. In addition, ACHD patients who were men (P=0.032), older (P<0.001), and were prescribed antihypertensive medications (P=0.003) were all found to have thicker cIMT values. Conclusions Overall, we determined that within the ACHD cohort, only those patients with a history of coarctation have higher cIMT values. To better determine the mechanism of abnormal vasculature, further basic research is needed.