Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Atherosclerosis　- Warning From the Hisayama Study.

carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), which is now widely used as an adjunct to traditional cardiovascular risk factors to assess atherosclerotic burden.4 Indeed, several crosssectional studies have demonstrated an association between carotid IMT and the severity of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, cerebrovasculature, abdominal aorta and femoral arteries. Furthermore, a prospective study has shown an association between carotid IMT and the incidence of events related to coronary artery disease and stroke.5 In this issue of the Journal, Kudo et al6 report how they estimated airflow from the flow-volume curve (FEV1/FVC) C hronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is currently the 4th leading cause of death worldwide. Although COPD has a heterogeneous clinical presentation, it is primarily characterized by airflow limitation and is generally associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs.1 It is also often associated with a significant systemic inflammatory response, which has been correlated with adverse clinical events.2 Over the past decade, there has been increased interest in the link between respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with COPD, and nearly 33.6% of patients with COPD have coronary artery disease.3 B-mode ultrasonography is a noninvasive and readily available imaging modality for the measurement of the Article p ????