Aim. To compare the elastic properties of the common carotid arteries (CCA) in patients with stage II hypertension (HTN) depending on the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and atherosclerotic plaque (ASP) <50 % of carotid arteries (CA).
Materials and methods. The study included 80 patients with stage II HTN, 43 of them without type 2 DM, 37 with type 2 DM, average age – 57.7, 55.3 % men. Basic anthropometric data, laboratory indicators of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, creatinine, data of daily blood pressure monitoring, echocardiography, intima-media thickness, local stiffness indicators: artery diameter, distensibility, the distensibility coefficient (DC), and compliance coefficient (CC), stiffness indices α, β, local pulse wave velocity (PWV), pressure and augmentation index (using radiofrequency-based technologies) were studied. Statistical analysis was performed; the probability of differences is at the level of p < 0.05.
Results. The prevalence of ASP in the carotid basin in the group of patients with HTN without DM was 51.1 %, with DM – 54.0 % (p = 0.79). While comparing the elastic properties of CCA of patients without ASP, no reliable similarities were found in the studied indicators. In patients with HTN, accompanying type 2 DM with ASP, the diameter of the CCA was significantly larger by 11.8 % (p = 0.03), and the CC was also higher by 23.6 % (p = 0.049) than in patients with HTN without DM. In patients with HTN with and without DM the limit levels for the intima-media thickness of the left CCA associated with the presence of atheroma were determined, however, the comparison of the areas under the ROC curves did not reveal a statistical difference in the cut-off values in the studied groups (р = 0.681).
Conclusions. A feature of CCA remodeling in HTN patients with DM at the stage of ASP presence should be considered a more substantial increase in the diameter of the CCA with preservation of the distensibility of the plaque-free vascular wall. The addition of a second factor (DM) to one risk factor (HTN) is not accompanied by a further statistically significant increase in IMT as a mandatory prerequisite for the appearance of ASP.