Concordance and prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in different vascular territories.
BACKGROUND
Subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) in the carotid, femoral, and coronary territories is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular (CV) events. Whether it is sufficient to assess SA in a single vascular territory in early-stage disease is uncertain. We aimed to determine the prevalence and concordance of SA in these vascular beds in asymptomatic patients without known CV disease.


METHODS
We enrolled patients aged 35 to 75 years who were asymptomatic, without known CV disease, and had undergone carotid and femoral Doppler ultrasonography and calcium scoring. Those receiving statins were excluded. SA was defined as the presence of plaques in the carotid and/or femoral arteries or the presence of calcium in the coronary arteries (Agatston score >0).


RESULTS
A total of 212 patients were identified with a mean age of 53 ± 7 years, of which 60% (128 patients) were men. The prevalence of SA was 62%. The distribution of SA between the three territories was similar, involving the carotid territory in 38% of cases, the femoral in 31%, and the coronaries in 37%. The concordance between the different vascular territories was weak, with a k index of 0.21 between the coronary and carotid territories, 0.27 between the coronary and femoral territories, and 0.34 between the carotid and femoral territories.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of SA in asymptomatic patients without known CV disease is high. The concordance in the presence of SA between the three vascular territories is weak. Therefore, all three vascular beds need to be investigated.
['Moreyra|Eduardo|E|', 'Moreyra|Camila|C|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0367-2836', 'Tibaldi|Miguel A|MA|', 'Crespo|Florencia|F|', 'Arias|Viviana|V|', 'Lepori|Augusto J|AJ|', 'Moreyra|Eduardo A|EA|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D001118:Argentina D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases D017023:Coronary Angiography D003324:Coronary Artery Disease D005260:Female D005263:Femoral Artery D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic D015995:Prevalence D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler D061205:Vascular Calcification
Subclinical atherosclerosis femoral Doppler ultrasonography calcium score cardiovascular prevention carotid Doppler ultrasonography