RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAROTID ARTERY DISEASE EVALUATED BY ULTRASOUND AND CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE EVALUATED BY CORONARY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY

Abstract

The prospective study was conducted in the Department of Cardiology, Nishtar Medical & Institute of Cardiology Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023 to evaluate the association between the severity of CAD and carotid IMT through multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) scan in symptomatic or asymptomatic patients. Patients with dyspnea, chest pain, or asymptomatic patients with low to moderate pre-test probability of CAD detected by MSCT were included in the study. Mean IMT, presence or absence of plaque, CACS, and any evidence of atherosclerosis were recorded. Of 250 patients, 8% had dyspnea, 14.8% had chest pain, 10.8% had dizziness, 6.4% had palpitations, and 62% were asymptomatic. Corid plaque and higher CAC score (P<0 .0001) had a significant association. 48% (50 of 105) patients with CACS 0 had carotid plaque, while 87.5% (127 of 145) patients with CACS >0 had carotid plaque, which shows the association between higher CACS and carotid plaque (P=0.0001). Similarly, 52.3% (55 of 105) patients without atherosclerosis had carotid plaque, and 85% (119 of 140) patients with atherosclerosis had carotid plaque (P < 0.0001). It is concluded that plaque and carotid IMT are associated with the degree and presence of coronary disease and calcification on CTA. Due to modest correlation, imaging modality should be selected based on the pattern of atherosclerosis and methodological considerations.