Correlation between carotid and/or subclavian atherosclerotic plaque and coronary atherosclerotic disease

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The present study aimed to analyze the correlation between carotid atherosclerotic plaque (CAP) and/or subclavian atherosclerotic plaque (SAP) and coronary atherosclerosis disease (CASD). METHODS: A total of 1343 patients hospitalized for chest pain or tightness due to coronary atherosclerotic disease and underwent initial coronary angiography (CAG) were evaluated by color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) for CAP and SAP. The patients were divided into four groups: non-CAP & non-SAP, only-SAP, only-CAP, or CAP & SAP. Finally, 1,242 patients were included in this study. RESULTS: The incidence of CASD and main coronary artery disease in the CAP & SAP group was higher than that in the CAP-only group. Moreover, the detection rate of three-vessel disease (3-VD) in the CAP & SAP group was significantly higher than that in the CAP group (p < 0.05). The incidence of main coronary artery branch lesions in patients with CAP & SAP was approximately 1.5 times higher than in those with only CAP. Male gender, hypertension, and diabetes were independent risk factors for main coronary artery branch lesions. If the patient had CAP & SAP lesions and more than three cardiovascular disease risk factors, coronary artery main artery disease incidence was about 81.7% CONCLUSION: Based on the CDFI screening and combined with cardiovascular disease risk factors, the combined evaluation of CAP and SAP showed higher CASD prediction values than the CAP group alone. Early detection of coronary atherosclerotic stenosis and timely clinical intervention is expected to reduce the incidence of ischemic heart disease events caused by coronary atherosclerotic stenosis.