Key result
Allergic asthma in adolescents was associated with a significantly higher mean carotid intima-media thickness compared to healthy controls (430.8 vs. 411.7 µm, p=0.004).
Why the study?
Evidence links asthma to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, but data in children and adolescents are scarce and conflicting.
Is allergic asthma associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness in adolescents?
Cohort (n=1,506)
Yes
Is allergic asthma associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness in adolescents?
Absolute Event Rate: 430.8% vs 411.7%
p-value: p=0.004
Allergic asthma in adolescents is independently associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness, suggesting it may serve as an early marker of cardiovascular risk.
May signal early vascular changes in allergic asthma; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that asthma is associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. However, data in children and adolescents are scarce and conflicting. We aimed to assess the impact of asthma with and without an allergic component on the carotid intima-media thickness in a large pediatric population. METHODS: The community-based early vascular ageing-Tyrol cohort study was performed between May 2015 and July 2018 in North, East (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy) and recruited youngster aged 14 years and above. Medical examinations included anthropometric measurements, fasting blood analysis, measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness by high-resolution ultrasound, and a physician guided interview. RESULTS: The mean age of the 1506 participants was 17.8 years (standard deviation 0.90). 851 (56.5%) participants were female. 22 subjects had a physician diagnosis of non-allergic asthma, 268 had inhalative allergies confirmed by a positive radio-allergo-sorbent-test and/or prick test, and 58 had allergic asthma. Compared to healthy controls, participants with non-allergic asthma (411.7 vs. 411.7 µm; p = 0.932) or inhalative allergy (420.0 vs. 411.7 µm; p = 0.118) did not have significantly higher carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). However, participants with allergic asthma had significantly higher cIMT (430.8 vs. 411.7; p = 0.004) compared to those without and this association remained significant after multivariable adjustment for established cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSION: Allergic asthma in the youth is associated with an increased carotid intima-media thickness. Physicians should therefore be aware of allergic asthma as a potential cardiovascular risk factor in children and adolescents. Trial Registration Number The EVA-Tyrol Study has been retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov under NCT03929692 since April 29, 2019.
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Winder et al. (2022) conducted a cohort in Healthy adolescents (n=1,506). Allergic asthma vs. Healthy controls (without asthma or inhalative allergies) was evaluated on Mean carotid intima-media thickness (cIMTMEAN) (p=0.004). Allergic asthma in adolescents was associated with a significantly higher mean carotid intima-media thickness compared to healthy controls (430.8 vs. 411.7 µm, p=0.004).
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