Prevalence of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Diabetic Patients Ultrasound high-resolution B-mode imaging on carotid arteries

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To quantitatively assess atherosclerosis of the carotid artery in subjects with and without diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Ultrasound high resolution B-mode imaging of carotid arteries was conducted on 71 nondiabetic subjects without hyperlipidemia or hypertension and 295 diabetic patients to determine IMT of the arterial wall. RESULTS IMT was linearly related with age in nondiabetic (IMT = [0.0087 × age] + 0.3318) and diabetic subjects (IMT = [0.0155 × age] + 0.32450). The regression coefficient for age was significantly greater in diabetic than nondiabetic subjects. IMT (mean ± SD) of diabetic subjects aged 20–29 was significantly > that of nondiabetic subjects aged 20–29 (0.73 ± 0.27 vs. 0.52 ± 0.07 mm, P < 0.01). Multivariate regression analysis of 275 NIDDM patients indicated smoking, hyperlipidemia, duration of diabetes, hypertension, and age were factors determining thickness of the carotid arterial wall. CONCLUSIONS Diabetes, along with age, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and hypertension, aggravates carotid atherosclerosis.