Background: Intima (INT)-media (MED) thickness of common carotid artery (CCA) has been widely used as a surrogate for coronary artery disease, however, quantitative study on CCA is extremely rare. Methods and results: Whole segment of both CCA from 101 Korean males died from external but not cardiovascular or cerebrovascular causes (44짹13 years age, mean짹SD) was examined by histopathology and morphometry with computer-assisted microscopy. Relationship between the quantitative data and biological parameters such as age, body mass index (BMI), body surface area (BSA) and waist-to-hip ratio (W/H) was determined. As a result, almost all subjects had varying degree of atherosclerotic changes in both CCA: 18.8% had coronary artery stenosis (CAS) and 5% had coronary calcification. CAS was well associated with age (p<.05). Clinical atherosclerosis (with intra- and extracellular lipid or advanced changes) was found in 30% of the distal and 11-13% of the proximal and middle segments in both CCA. In the left CCA, INT thickness and plaque (with calcified core) size increased with age (p<.005) and W/H (p<.005) in all segments. In the right CCA, INT thickness and plaque size increased with age in all segments (p<.005), but they were increased with W/H in the middle and distal segments (p<.01). INT thickness was well related with plaque size in all segments of either CCA (p<.00001). MED thickness increased only with age (p<.05) in both CCA. Plaque size was larger in the proximal and distal segments when CAS was associated (p<.05). However, BSA and BMI did not affect vessel size, atherosclerosis, plaque size and CAS. Conclusion: These results suggest that age, W/H and INT thickness are considerable factors to predict atherosclerotic changes of CCA and CAS particularly in aged subjects.