Background: To quantify the association between effects of interventions on carotid intimamedia thickness (cIMT) progression and their effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Methods: We systematically collated data from randomized controlled trials. cIMT was assessed as the mean value at the common-carotid-artery; if unavailable, the maximum value at the common-carotid-artery or other cIMT measures were utilized. The primary outcome was a combined CVD endpoint defined as myocardial infarction, stroke, revascularization procedures, or fatal CVD. We estimated intervention effects on cIMT progression and incident CVD for each trial, before relating the two using a Bayesian meta-regression approach. Results: We analyzed data of 119 randomized controlled trials involving 100,667 patients (mean age 62 years, 42% female). Over an average follow-up of 3.7 years, 12,038 patients developed the combined CVD endpoint. Across all interventions, each 10 μm/year reduction of cIMT progression resulted in a relative risk for CVD of 0.91 (95% credible interval 0.87-0.94), with an additional relative risk for CVD of 0.92 (0.87-0.97) being achieved independent of cIMT progression. Taken together, we estimated that interventions reducing cIMT progression by 10, 20, 30, or 40 μm/year would yield relative risks of 0.84 (0.75-0.93), 0.76 (0.67-0.85), 0.69 (0.59-0.79), or 0.63 (0.52-0.74). Results were similar when grouping trials by type of intervention, time of conduct, time to ultrasound follow-up, availability of individual-participant data, primary vs. secondary prevention trials, type of cIMT measurement, and proportion of female patients. Conclusions: The extent of intervention effects on cIMT progression predicted the degree of CVD risk reduction. This provides a missing link supporting the usefulness of cIMT progression as a surrogate marker for CVD risk in clinical trials.

The distribution of cIMT values is too heterogeneous to define universal or regional population reference values. CIMT values vary widely between different studies regardless of ethnicity, geographic location and ultrasound protocol. Prediction of vascular events with cIMT values was more consistent across all cohorts, ethnicities and regions.

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BackgroundThe role of plasma cholesterol in impairing arterial function and elasticity remains unclear. We evaluated arterial stiffness, measured locally in the common carotid artery by high-resolution echo-tracking, and aortic stiffness, using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) (the “gold-standard” measurement of arterial stiffness), in treatment-naive patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).MethodsThe study included 66 patients with FH (10–66 years old) and 57 first-degree relatives without FH (11–61 years old). Carotid-femoral PWV was determined by SphygmoCor (AtCor, Australia). The parameters of carotid stiffness β-index, Peterson elastic modulus and local PWV were assessed with regard to the common carotid artery at a distance of 1cm from the bifurcation (AlokaProsound Alpha7, Japan).ResultsFH patients showed significantly higher β-index (6.3(4.8–8.2) vs. 5.2(4.2–6.4), p = 0.005), Ep (78(53–111) kPa vs. 62(48–79) kPa, p = 0.006), local PWV (5.4(4.5–6.4) m/c vs. 4.7(4.2–5.4) m/c, p = 0.005), but comparable values of carotid-femoral PWV (6.76(7.0–7.92) m/c vs. 6.48(6.16–7.12) m/c, p = 0.138). Carotid arteries and the aorta stiffened with age in patients with FH, but after 30 years, carotid arteries stiffened more significantly than the aorta.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that treatment-naive patients with FH had stiffer carotid arteries than their relatives, but showed no difference in aortic stiffness. We also found out that the rate of reduction of elasticity of the aorta and carotid arteries in FH patients varies: it is observed earlier in carotid arteries than in the aorta.

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медицинский исследовательский центр профилактической медицины" Минздрава России. Москва; 2 ОБУЗ "Кардиологический диспансер" Минздрава России. Иваново; 3 ФГБУ "Национальный медицинский исследовательский центр кардиологии" Минздрава России. Москва, Россия Цель. Выявление ассоциации между степенью выраженности атеросклероза сонных артерий и сердечно-сосудистыми событиями в популяции лиц преимущественно среднего возраста. Материал и методы. В исследование вошли 1100 чел., участников исследования АТЕРОГЕН-Иваново (субисследования ЭССЕ-Иваново), в возрасте 40-67 лет. Все исследуемые прошли дуплексное сканирование сонных артерий (Samsung Medison MySono U6) с определением количества атеросклеротических бляшек (АСБ), максимального стеноза и суммарного стеноза и расчетом полоспецифических квинтилей. С помощью регрессионной модели Кокса был оценен риск наступления комбинированной конечной точки: смерть от любой причины, инфаркт миокарда, новый случай ишемической болезни сердца, острого нарушения мозгового кровообращения, реваскуляризация любого сосудистого бассейна. Медиана наблюдения-3,8 года. Результаты. АСБ были выявлены у 74,5% мужчин и 58,0% женщин. У мужчин атеросклероз был более выраженным, чем у женщин: максимальный стеноз составил 27 (0-34)% у мужчин vs 22 (0-58)% у женщин (р=0,000), суммарный стеноз-48 (0-90)% vs 22 (0-31)% (р=0,000) и количество бляшек-2 (0-3) vs 1(0-2) (р=0,000). Было зарегистрировано 24 документально подтвержденных конечных точек. 23 из 24 конечных точек произошли у лиц, у которых хотя бы один из исследуемых ультразвуковых маркеров соответствовал квинтилю ≥3. Регрессионный анализ показал, что если хотя бы один из ультразвуковых маркеров достиг квинтиля ≥3 (например, максимальный стеноз ≥25% у мужчин), то риск развития событий, вошедших в комбинированную конечную точку, увеличивается в 8,5 раз-95% ДИ 1,12-64,76 (p=0,039). В то же время ишемическая болезнь сердца в анамнезе увеличивает риск в 4,05 раза-95% ДИ 1,46-11,21 (p=0,007), острое нарушение мозгового крово обращения в 3,49 раз-95% ДИ 1,19-10,23 (p=0,023). Доля мужчин с АСБ и стенозом <25% составила 15%. Заключение. Наличие АСБ в сонных артериях в 8,5 раз увеличивает риск сердечно-сосудистых событий, при этом для 15% мужчин в популяции с АСБ в сонных артериях, сужающими просвет на <25%, требуется уточнение сердечно-сосудистого риска. Ключевые слова: атеросклеротическая бляшка, сонные артерии, ультразвуковые маркеры, стеноз. Конфликт интересов: не заявлен.

Background. Despite the enormous benefits of radial access, this route is associated with a risk of radial artery occlusion (RAO). Objective. We compared the incidence of RAO in patients undergoing transradial coronary angiography and intervention after short versus prolonged hemostasis protocol. Also we assessed the efficacy of rescue 1-hour ipsilateral ulnar artery compression if RAO was observed after hemostasis. Material and Methods. Patients referred for elective transradial coronary procedures were eligible. After 6 F radial sheath removal, patients were randomized to short (3 hours) (n = 495) or prolonged (8 hours) (n = 503) hemostasis and a simple bandage was placed over the puncture site. After hemostasis was completed, oximetry plethysmography was used to assess the patency of the radial artery. Results. One thousand patients were randomized. Baseline characteristics were similar between both groups with average age 61.4 ± 9.4 years (71% male) and PCI performed on half of the patients. The RAO rate immediately after hemostasis was 3.2% in the short hemostasis group and 10.1% in the prolonged group ( p < 0.001 ). Rescue recanalization was successful only in the short group in 56.2% (11/19); at hospital discharge, RAO rates were 1.4% in the short group and 10.1% in the prolonged group ( p < 0.001 ). Conclusion. Shorter hemostasis was associated with significantly less RAO compared to prolonged hemostasis. Rescue radial artery recanalization was effective in > 50%, but only in the short hemostasis group.