Cardiovascular risk assessment in individual patients from carotid intimal-medial thickness measurements

• Published in: Current atherosclerosis reports Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 225 - 231
• Main Author: Riley, Ward A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2004
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cardiovascular Diseases - diagnosis; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Carotid Arteries - diagnostic imaging; Carotid Arteries - pathology; Carotid Artery Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Carotid Artery Diseases - epidemiology; Carotid Artery Diseases - pathology; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Risk Assessment; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Tunica Media - pathology; Ultrasonography, Doppler
• ISSN: 1523-3804; 1534-6242
• DOI: 10.1007/s11883-004-0036-3

Carotid intimal-medial thickness measurements are a low-cost, noninvasive method to assess atherosclerotic burden in the general population. A large evidence base exists to validate estimates of absolute cardiovascular risk obtained from measurements of carotid intimal-medial thickness. Precise and reliable carotid intimal-medial thickness measurements from several ultrasonic interrogation angles and anatomic sites are required to obtain the most valid estimates of cardiovascular risk in an individual patient. This paper reviews basic measurement concepts and outlines important considerations in the clinical assessment of absolute cardiovascular risk in individual patients from measurements of carotid intimal-medial thickness.