Hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia are characterized by a reduction in arterial distensibility and by accelerated atherosclerosis. Whether arterial stiffening is an inherent feature of these conditions or just the consequence of the atherosclerotic clinical or subclinical lesions is not known, however. Our aim was to obtain information on this issue by directly measuring, in human...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Previous ultrasound-based studies have shown an association between carotid artery atherosclerosis and dementia. Our aim was to investigate this association using postmortem examination. METHODS Postmortem morphometric measurements of carotid stenosis and intima-media thickness were performed in individuals with dementia (n=112) and control subjects (n=577). Multivariat...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether or not highly active antiretroviral therapy is associated with carotid artery stiffness in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients in Henan Province, China. METHOD Fifty human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients with at least a 5-year history of highly active antiretroviral therapy use and 50 human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients without a hi...

Although hyperhomocysteinemia is considered to be a key risk factor for atherosclerosis, especially in Western countries, its role in the Asian population is still controversial. In this study, we evaluated the determinants of homocysteine and carotid intima-media thickness, a clinical marker for the detection of atherosclerosis, in Japanese. In 289 Japanese adults (age 37-86 yrs), we screened ...

The aim of this study was to identify the main factor affecting compliance and intima-media thickness of the elastic common carotid artery in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients. Increased intima-media thickness and decreased arterial compliance are associated with elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. This study included 20 patients and 20 age- and sex- matched healthy contro...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Several measures of atherosclerosis predict the risk of stroke. However, a comparison between various measures of atherosclerosis is lacking, and limited information exists on the added value of individual measures of atherosclerosis to cardiovascular risk factors. We compared different measures of atherosclerosis in relation to stroke. METHODS The study was based on th...

Background: The study was designed to investigate the association between polymorphisms of the arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5) gene (rs12762303) and the arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase-activating proteingene (rs3802278), and markers of carotid atherosclerosis, such as carotid intima media thickness, the number of affected segments of carotid arteries and the sum of plaque thickness in patients ...

laboratories that have sought to use the anatomical and pathological rationale that I have suggested above should drive the carotid intima–media thickness protocol, I believe the use of the composite measure would be strongly confirmed. Finally, when considering what segments should be studied in evaluating the effectiveness of a drug in retarding the progression of carotid intima–media thickne...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Large pulse pressure associates with atherosclerosis, but it is unclear if it contributes to the development of atherosclerosis or if atherosclerosis leads to pulse pressure widening. We examined whether exposure to large pulse pressure in childhood predicts carotid artery intima-media thickness in adulthood. METHODS Carotid intima-media thickness was measured in 2146 a...