Abstract

MERINO-IBARRA, Erardo; HIERRO GARCIA, Daniel; HERRERA GONZALEZ, Alfredo  and  NASIFF HADAD, Alfredo. Usefulness of the association between cardiovascular risk factors and carotid atherosclerosis in the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. Rev cubana med [online]. 2005, vol.44, n.3-4, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-302X.

Those patients whose cardiovascular risk is not easy to estimate may benefit from techniques such as the B-mode ultrasound that allows to detect the intima-media complex thickness and atheroma plaques in the arteries. This study was conducted to estimate the risk for ischemic heart disease according to atherosclerotic lesions found by carotid ultrasound, and to cardiovascular risk factors in 74 subjects undergoing coronariography with presumptive diagnosis of ischemic heart disease that were divided into 2 groups: patients and controls. The first were defined by coronariography with atherosclerotic occlusive lesions of more than 50 % of the light of at least a coronary artery . In the second group there were no significant lesions and the risk factors were identified by interview and hemochemical tests. All of them underwent a B-mode ultrasound of both carotid arteries. Significant differences were found between patients and controls in the following variables: male sex, hypertension, smoking, waist perimeter , body mass index, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, pathological history of infarction and sudden death in first-line relatives before 45 years old in men and 55 years old in women. . Each variable showed a relative risk higher than 1, excepting the waist perimeter. The carotid B-mode ultrasound in patients presenting risk factors such as male sex, body mass index ³ 25, high cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, pathological history in first-line relatives, arterial hypertension and smoking, allows to know with accuracy the risk for developing significant coronary lesions and, therefore, to determine with more precision the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease.

Keywords : Carotid atherosclerosis; intima-media complex; carotid B-mode ultrasound.

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