Association between multi-site atherosclerotic plaques and systemic arteriosclerosis: results from the BEST study (Beijing Vascular Disease Patients Evaluation Study)

Abstract

Background Arteriosclerosis can be reflected in various aspect of the artery, including atherosclerotic plaque formation or stiffening on the arterial wall. Both arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis are important and closely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between systemic arteriosclerosis and multi-site atherosclerotic plaques. Methods The study was designed as an observational cross-sectional study. A total of 1178 participants (mean age 67.4 years; 52.2% male) enrolled into the observational study from 2010 to 2017. Systemic arteriosclerosis was assessed by carotid femoral artery pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) and multi-site atherosclerotic plaques (MAP, >=2 of the below sites) were reflected in the carotid or subclavian artery, abdominal aorta and lower extremities arteries using ultrasound equipment. The associations were assessed by multivariable logistic regression. Results The prevalence of CF-PWV >12 m/s and MAP were 40.2% and 74.4%. Atherosclerotic plaques in 3 sites were more common in male compared with that in female (48.9% versus 36.9%, p<0.05). All CVD factors were worse in participants with MAP than that with <=1 site. Participants with CF-PWV>12m/s corresponded to a mean 82% probability of MAP with age and sex-adjusted. Patients with peripheral artery disease showed the highest odds ratio (OR) (3.88) for MAP, followed by smoking (2.485), CF-PWV>12m/s (2.25), dyslipidemia (1.89), male (1.84), stroke (1.64), hypoglycemic agents (1.56) and age (1.09) (all p<0.001). Conclusions MAP was highly prevalent in this cohort, with male showing a higher prevalence than female. Higher systemic arteriosclerosis was independently associated with MAP, which indicating the supplementary value of arteriosclerosis for the earlier identification and intervention on MAP.

Association of Blood Lipids With Coronary Artery Plaque Among Saudi Patients Referred to Computed Tomography

“…Similar to previous studies, coronary plaques in the current study were associated with traditional risk factors of CAD including the SCORE [21,27,28]. The associations between plaques and blood lipids in the current study were stronger in males than females in both univariate and multivariate analysis.…”

Association between Subclavian Artery Plaques and Future Cardiovascular Events in a Hypertensive Cohort

“…A previous observational study on multi-site vessel atherosclerosis, not including subclavian arteries, indicated that the CP should be most prevalent in a group of Chinese patients with clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. [17] In the present hypertensive cohort, CP was also more prevalent than RSP at the baseline but not signi cantly associated with endpoint events. However, RSP showed a higher and signi cant correlation to the incidence of future cardiovascular events in a hypertensive cohort after the adjustment of other potential risk factors (OR = 2.428, 95%C.I.…”

“…However, though the ilioferoal arteries tend to be most sensitive among above studied territories in the detection of early plaques, ultrasonic examination of it is less convenient to perform during routine clinical practice and in some cases magnetic resonance angiography is recommended to accurately determine multi-territory atherosclerotic plaques. [17] An additional procedure and medicare costs, as well as training for sonographers would be required. On the other hand, carotid ultrasound examination has been widely carried out, the ultrasonic examination for subclavian artery would be more easily to perform without training ultrasongraphers due to the anatomical advantage.…”

“…[10] Furthermore, the relationship between the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in subclavian artery and that of carotid territories is controversial in recent meta-analyses and studies. [10,17] In order to evaluate the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in subclavian artery and its association between further cardiovascular events and stoke, we designed and performed this study in a hypertensive inpatient cohort.…”

Remote and Anesthetic-Induced Myocardial Preconditioning Is Preserved in Atherosclerotic LDL Receptor-/- Mice In Vivo

“…The development of arteriosclerosis is a complex process, especially in the initial phase. Histological changes in the aorta can be detected early, while changes in the small vessels might occur later [30,31]. Since we did not perform a histological examination of the coronary arteries, we cannot exclude that atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction of the coronary arteries were in their very early stages in our experiments.…”