Association of cardiovascular risk factors with intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries in early postmenopausal women

In Brief Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and coronary heart diseases (CHD) risk factors in a large population of peri- and postmenopausal women. Design: Participants in this study were 906 healthy peri- and postmenopausal women from southwestern France, 45 to 65 years old with no history of cardiovascular disease and no utilization of estrogen/hormone therapy. Women were classified either as perimenopausal (n = 240) or post-menopausal (n = 666) according both to the regularity of menses and to serum follicle-stimulating hormone and estradiol values. All women answered a questionnaire, which included 72 questions, related to the identification of familial and personal cardiovascular risk factors. Biological measurements were performed to evaluate their lipid-lipoprotein profiles and fasting glucose levels, ultrasonography was used to measure IMT and total body scanners by DXA were performed to determine the percentage of body fat. Results: Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the ability of each variable to explain IMT values. Mean IMT of the right carotid artery was 0.520 (± 0.07) mm. Of the 906 women, 9% were currently taking lipid-lowering drugs, 12.8% and less than 2% were being treated for hypertension and diabetes, respectively. Additionally, 124 women were found to have current hypertension, 10% had a familial history of CHD, and 18% were regular smokers. In multiple regression analyses, only increasing age (P < 0.001) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.001) were independently and significantly associated with IMT. Conclusions: These results show that only a few risk factors were associated with IMT in this population of healthy peri- and postmenopausal women. These results might be related to the fact that this study was conducted in an area of France well known for having the lowest rates of CHD in women, which is further supported by the thinner IMT found in this population as compared with a higher-risk population. Therefore, these results might not be relevant for CHD in older or high-risk women. The results of this study indicated that in a population of early postmenopausal women with low cardiovascular risk, the predictive value of conventional risk factors over intima-media thickness of the carotid artery measured by B-mode ultrasonography was very weak. In multiple regression analyses, only increasing age and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were independently and significantly associated with intima-media thickness of the right carotid artery. These findings raise the question as to whether, in such a population, it is relevant to seek a direct evaluation of potential early arterial wall alterations.