Objectives: It is still not clear whether hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia are associated with increased carotid Intima-media thickness (IMT) especially in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. We assessed the association between biochemical variables and carotid IMT in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. Methods: Study population consisted of 292 consecutive patients (mean 59 years old, 161 males) with angiographically proven coronary atherosclerosis. Carotid IMT was measured by high-resolution ultrasound and semiautomatic method using MATH software. We analyzed carotid IMT according to the clinical and biochemical variables.
Results: Mean carotid IMT was 0.80±0.29 mm. Carotid IMT was correlated with fasting blood sugar (FBS, r=0.173, p=0.007), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC, r=0.155, p=0.012), presence of hypertension (p=0.003) and age (r=0.298, p=0.000). Other lipid profiles such as total cholesterol, triglyceride and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were not associated with carotid IMT. Multivariate analysis showed that carotid IMT was associated with FBS (β=0.123, p=0.046), LDLC (β=0.153, p=0.013), hypertension (β=-0.134, p=0.032) and age (β=0.275, p=0.000).
Conclusion: Carotid IMT was associated with age, presence of hypertension, FBS and LDLC in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
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