1. Prevalence and Burden of Carotid and Femoral Atherosclerosis in Subjects Without Known Cardiovascular Disease in a Large Community Hospital in South-America.
- Author
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Botto F, Obregon S, Forcada P, Di Leva A, Fischer Sohn G, Bang JH, Koretzky M, Baratta S, and Kotliar C
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Female, Prevalence, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Adult, Risk Assessment, Predictive Value of Tests, Aged, Asymptomatic Diseases, Sex Factors, Age Factors, Risk Factors, Ultrasonography, Age Distribution, Cross-Sectional Studies, Femoral Artery diagnostic imaging, Carotid Artery Diseases epidemiology, Carotid Artery Diseases diagnostic imaging, Plaque, Atherosclerotic epidemiology, Hospitals, Community, Peripheral Arterial Disease epidemiology, Peripheral Arterial Disease diagnostic imaging, Peripheral Arterial Disease diagnosis
- Abstract
Introduction: Clinical guidelines recommend measurement of arterial (carotid and femoral) plaque burden by vascular ultrasound (VUS) as a risk modifier in individuals at low or moderate risk without known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)., Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of carotid and femoral plaques by age and sex, the burden of subclinical atherosclerosis (SA), and its association with classic CVRF in subjects over 30 years of age without ASCVD., Methods: We prospectively enrolled 5775 consecutive subjects referred for cardiovascular evaluation and determined the prevalence and burden of SA using 2D-VUS in carotid and femoral arteries., Results: Sixty-one percent were men with a mean age of 51.3 (SD 10.6) years. Overall, plaque prevalence was 51% in carotid arteries, 39.3% in femoral arteries, 62.4% in carotid or femoral arteries, and 37.6% in neither. The prevalence of plaques and SA burden showed an increasing trend with age, being higher in men than in women and starting before the age of 40, both in the carotid and femoral sites. There was also an increasing prevalence of plaques according to the number of CVRF, and interestingly we found a high prevalence of plaques in subjects with 0 or 1 classic CVRF., Conclusions: We observed an increased prevalence and burden of carotid or femoral SA, higher in men, beginning before the fourth decade of life and increasing with age. Despite a significant association with classic CVRF, a significant number of subjects with low CVRF were diagnosed with SA., (© 2024. Italian Society of Hypertension.)
- Published
- 2024
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