Carotid Plaque, Intima Media Thickness, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Prevalent Cardiovascular Disease in Men and Women

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Abstract
Background and Purpose—B-mode ultrasound is a noninvasive method of examining the walls of peripheral arteries and provides measures of the intima-media thickness (IMT) at various sites (common carotid artery, bifurcation, internal carotid artery) and of plaques that may indicate early presymptomatic disease. The reported associations between cardiovascular risk factors, clinical disease, IMT, and plaques are inconsistent. We sought to clarify these relationships in a large, representative sample of men and women living in 2 British towns. Methods—The study was performed during 1996 in 2 towns (Dewsbury and Maidstone) of the British Regional Heart Study that have an ≈2-fold difference in coronary heart disease risk. The male participants were drawn from the British Regional Heart Study and were recruited in 1978–1980 and form part of a national cohort study of 7735 men. A random sample of women of similar age to the men (55 to 77 years) was also selected from the age-sex register of the general practices ...