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Ultrasonic Assessment of the Prevalence of Carotid Artery Stenosis in Asymptomatic Volunteers
Author(s) -
Niederkorn Kurt,
Horner Susanna,
Schmidt Reinhold,
Fazekas Franz,
Lechner Helmut
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/jon199113119
Subject(s) - medicine , asymptomatic , stenosis , cardiology , fibrinogen , logistic regression , ultrasound , radiology , stroke (engine) , duplex ultrasonography , vascular disease , mechanical engineering , engineering
High‐resolution Duplex scanning of the carotid artery was performedin 125 clinically asymptomatic and randomly chosenvolunteers to determine the prevalence and extent of atheroscleroticstenosis. The proband age ranged from 24 to 74 years(mean, 50 years). Abnormal ultrasound findings were noted in37 subjects (30%). Of this group, 34 had minimal carotidplaques causing less than 20% reduction in artery diameterand 3 had moderate plaques causing 20 to 49% reduction indiameter. No hemodynamically significant obstructions werenoted. Stepwise logistic regression using age and sex as covariatesidentified age (p = 0.0002) and fibrinogen level (p =0.02) as the most powerful predictors for the presence of asymptomaticcarotid artery stenosis. The sonographic results ofthe asymptomatic group were compared with those in 200 patients(mean age, 55 years) who had acute ischemic stroke.Preliminary follow‐up results (mean follow‐up time, 26 months)in 38 probands of the asymptomatic group showed progressionof the carotid stenosis in 13, which was associated with asignificantly lower level of high‐density‐lipoprotein cholesterol.