Sonographic assessment of the common carotid artery luminal diameter in adults with co-existing diabetes mellitus and hypertension

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) are known to cause major in changes in arterial morphology and function, (remodelling) including alterations in carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), carotid artery luminal diameter (CALD), and arterial compliance and blood flow velocity. However, there is a paucity of data evaluating common carotid luminal diameter (CCALD) in an adult with both DM and HTN (DM+HTN) in the study locality. Objective: This study is therefore aimed at evaluating the CCALD in adults with DM+HTN. Methodology: One hundred and fifteen (115) adult subjects with co-existing DM+HTN and one hundred and fourty four (144) healthy controls participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 80 years. The common carotid artery luminal diameter (CCALD) at the diastolic phase of the cardiac cycles was scanned and measured using a venue 50 ultrasound scanners with electronic calipers and high frequency linear array transducer. Result: The overall mean CCALD was 6.43±0.87 mm and 5.88±0.77 mm for subjects with DM+HTN and healthy controls, respectively. The mean CCALD value was significantly higher in subjects DM+HTN compared to the healthy controls (0.000). The mean CCALD correlated positively with age in males with DM+HTN hypertensive females, while no significant correlations were observed among healthy controls. Males had significantly higher mean CCALD value when compared to their female counterparts in both subjects with DM+HTN and healthy controls. Conclusion: In this study, the mean CCALD value in subjects with DM+HTN is significantly higher compared to those of healthy controls.