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The Role of Carotid Intimal Thickness Testing and Risk Prediction in the Development of Coronary Atherosclerosis

  • Coronary Heart Disease (JA Farmer, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Atherosclerosis Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Carotid ultrasonography is a safe and available noninvasive diagnostic tool that provides information about the carotid arteries’ characteristics and may be used for early detection of coronary artery disease as well as cardiovascular and stroke event risk stratifications. We performed a systematic search of articles discussing carotid ultrasonography in the English literature recorded in PubMed from 2010 to September 2012. Generally, the studies showed that internal carotid artery intima–media thickness is a more powerful variable than common carotid artery intima–media thickness. Moreover, the presence of carotid plaque and plaque volumes are more reliable and accurate estimators of coronary artery disease and risk of a stroke or cardiovascular event than intima–media thickness.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. John Cardiovascular Research Center, Harbor-UCLA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, 1124 W Carson Street, Torrance, CA, 90502, USA

    Sirous Darabian, Mehera Hormuz, Muhammad Aamir Latif & Matthew J. Budoff

  2. University of California Irvine, Irvine, USA

    Sogol Pahlevan

  3. University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA

    Matthew J. Budoff

  4. Division of Cardiology, Harbor-UCLA, 1124 W Carson Street, Torrance, CA, 90502, USA

    Matthew J. Budoff

Authors
  1. Sirous Darabian
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  2. Mehera Hormuz
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  3. Muhammad Aamir Latif
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  4. Sogol Pahlevan
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  5. Matthew J. Budoff
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew J. Budoff.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Coronary Heart Disease

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Darabian, S., Hormuz, M., Latif, M.A. et al. The Role of Carotid Intimal Thickness Testing and Risk Prediction in the Development of Coronary Atherosclerosis. Curr Atheroscler Rep 15, 306 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-012-0306-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-012-0306-4

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