Peripheral atherosclerosis evaluation through ultrasound: A promising diagnostic tool for coronary artery disease

Abstract

Effective treatment, but also proper diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, remains a major challenge in everyday practice. A quick, safe, and economically acceptable non‐invasive procedure should play a leading role in cardiovascular risk assessment before invasive diagnostics is performed. The staging of subclinical atherosclerosis may help in further clinical decisions. Safe, widely available, and relatively inexpensive, ultrasonography is a promising examination that should find wider application in clinical practice. The latest ESC guidelines emphasize the usefulness of carotid ultrasound in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) and subclinical assessment of atherosclerosis, which help to determine the level of cardiovascular risk. Ultrasound examination of peripheral arteries, especially superficial vessels such as the femoral arteries, is quite easy, quick, and accurate. Other vascular beds, such as iliac and renal, are more demanding to examine, but can also provide valuable information. This review summarizes important studies comparing the severity of atherosclerosis in ultrasound‐visible vascular beds in patients with established CAD. We especially emphasize the benefits of the combined assessment of atherosclerosis features, which were characterized by high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of CAD and other serious cardiovascular diseases.

Peripheral Artery Disease Ultrasound Assessment in Predicting the Severity of Coronary Artery Disease

“…As subclinical atherosclerosis is often generalized, its detection remains challenging for different sites, but ultrasonography is an efficient tool, as the latest ESC guidelines highlighted the usefulness of carotid ultrasound in the diagnosis of CAD. Ultrasound examination of peripheral arteries, such as the femoral arteries, is quite easy, quick and accurate, but other sites such as iliac and renal, although more demanding to examine, can also provide valuable information [ 9 ].…”