Comparison of Carotid Arterial Resistive Indices With Intima-Media Thickness as Sonographic Markers of Atherosclerosis

UNLABELLED: Background and Purpose-The intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery is a (morphological) sonographic parameter that depends on the degree of atherosclerosis. In the renal arteries, the value of the (hemodynamic) resistive index (RI) is correlated with the severity of atherosclerosis. In contrast to the well-known IMT, no study has yet applied the carotid RI to estimate generalized atherosclerosis. Duplex sonography of the common carotid (CCA) and internal carotid artery (ICA) was then performed, with determination of IMT and RI. Highly significant correlations were found between the score and IMT CCA and the score and RI ICA (r=0.62, P:<0.0001 and r=0.55, P:<0.0001). The score-RI CCA correlation was much less marked (r=0.354, P:<0.0001). The intraobserver and interobserver agreement was less for IMT than for RI CCA and ICA. The areas under the curve of the receiver operating curves to distinguish between low-risk and high-risk patients resulted in values of 0.86, 0.81, and 0.69 for IMT, RI ICA, and RI CCA, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: -Although RI reflects the atherosclerotic process in an indirect manner, the correlation between the RI ICA and the SMART atherosclerosis score as well as the ability to distinguish between low- and high-risk patients are comparable to those of the well-known IMT.