The Correlation between Coronary Artery Disease and Carotid Atherosclerosis

성균관대학교 의과대학 삼성의료원 심혈관센터 순환기내과 영상의학과 * 삼성생명과학연구소 ** 주신배·최연현 * ·추진아·최영란·김선 우 ** ·류재춘·박승우 권현철·김준수·김덕경·이상훈· 박정의·홍경표·이원로 Background:In patients with coronary artery disease(CAD, atherosclerotic changes of carotid arteries(CA often coexist with CAD itself. If the degree of carotid atherosclerosis can be estimated, it would be very helpful in the management of patients with CAD. Methods:CA intima-media thickness(IMT was evaluated by ultrasonography at 12 segments (both proximal, middle, distal common CA, bifurcation, internal and external CA- of the extracranial CA on the 182 subjects whom underwent coronary angiograms. The subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the severity of CAD; control(C, n=23, single vessel disease(Ⅰ , n=64, two vessel disease(Ⅱ , n=44, three vessel disease(Ⅲ , n=51. Results:The means(±SD of maximal IMT, chosen from the 12 segments, of each group were 1.4±0.7mm(C, 2.1±1.4mm(Ⅰ, 2.2±1.2mm(Ⅱ, and 2.9±1.7mm(Ⅲ . The 4 groups showed significant differences between each other. The only conparison to yield unsignificant differences was between group I and group Ⅱ(p=0.02 for C and Ⅰ, p=0.001 for C and Ⅱ, p<0.001 for C and Ⅲ, p=0.01 for Ⅰ and Ⅲ, p=0.04 for Ⅱ and Ⅲ. When multivariate analysis was used to assess which major risk factors for CAD(age, male sex, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, triglycerides- and CAD groups affected CA IMT, group Ⅲ and increasing age were the most significant variables(p=0.0001 and 0.0035, respectively. Conclusion:It is necessary to evaluate the status of the extracranial carotid arterial system with