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Concomitants of atherosclerotic carotid artery stenosis
Insights
Patients with carotid stenosis share common risk factors with coronary artery disease, including high blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking. Addressing these atherosclerosis precursors may reduce cerebrovascular disease incidence.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Medicine
- Neurology
- Cardiology
Background:
- Internal carotid stenosis is a significant cause of cerebrovascular disease.
- Understanding associated metabolic and lifestyle factors is crucial for prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify metabolic and other risk factors associated with internal carotid stenosis.
- To compare these factors between patients with stenosis and control subjects.
Main Methods:
- Compared 75 patients with proven internal carotid stenosis to age- and sex-matched controls.
- Assessed plasma lipids, glucose, blood pressure, smoking, and history of ischemic heart and peripheral vascular disease.
Main Results:
- Patients with carotid stenosis exhibited higher blood pressure, plasma cholesterol, and triglycerides.
- They were more likely to be smokers and have diabetes, coronary, and peripheral vascular disease.
- Carotid stenosis patients frequently had multiple atherosclerosis risk factors.
Conclusions:
- Risk factors for carotid stenosis resemble those for coronary atherosclerosis.
- Modifying these shared risk factors may decrease cerebrovascular disease occurrence.
Abstract:
To identify metabolic and other concomitants of a single important type of atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease, 75 patients with angiographically and surgically proven internal carotid stenosis were compared with age and sex matched control subjects with respect to plasma cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. They were also compared for blood pressure, cigarette smoking, evidence of ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and for a family history of these diseases. Patients with carotid stenosis had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures and higher plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations than the control groups. They had, as well, a far greater likelihood of being cigarette smokers and a greater likelihood of having diabetes mellitus and previous evidence of coronary and peripheral vascular disease. Patients with carotid stenosis were far more likely to have 2 or more of these common concomitants of atherosclerosis than were the control subjects. The data suggest that the precursors of carotid stenosis are similar to those of coronary atherosclerosis and raise the hope that modification of these factors may decrease the incidence of this highly prevalent form of cerebrovascular disease.