Relationship between common carotid artery intima-media thickness and coronary disease

Objective: To investigate the relationship between common carotid artery intima-media thickness(IMT)and plaque with coronary disease(CHD).Methods: The carotid IMT and plaque score were measured in 90 patients with suspected CHD by color Doppler flow imagining and all the patients were divided into CHD group(60 cases,including 15 cases with stable angina,25 cases with unstable angina and 20 cases with acute myocardial infarction) and control group(non-CHD,30 cases) according to coronary angiography(CAG).Carotid IMT,the plaque index and the detection rate of carotid plaque were compared between CHD group and control group.Results: The IMT and plaque score were statistically higher in group CHD than those in control group(P<0.01).A positive correlation was found between IMT and the number of coronary artery with stenosis(P<0.05);there was no obvious correlation between IMT and the degree of coronary artery stenosis(P>0.05).Conclusions: Common carotid artery IMT is closely related to coronary heart disease.Ultrasonography of carotid artery could be used as a routine method to detect and screen patients with coronary heart disease in early stage.