Abstract
Increased intima-media thickness (IMT) of common carotid artery (CA) is considered the hallmark of vascular hypertension-mediated target organ damage, even if vessel remodeling due to mechanical stress may also induce changes in diameter. We developed a method computing both diameter and IMT of CA, to assess correlates and prognostic impact of carotid cross-sectional area (CCSA) in a large registry of treated hypertensive patients. We selected 6300 hypertensive patients of the Campania Salute Network registry free of overt cardiovascular (CV) disease and with available CA ultrasound (54 ± 11 years; 57% male). CCSA was computed as:
CCSA was considered high if >90th percentile of the sex-specific distribution (>48 mm2 in men and >41 mm2 in women). Patients with high CCSA were male, with older age, higher pulse pressure (PP), more prevalent obese and diabetic, with higher total and LDL cholesterol (p < 0.01 for all). During a median follow-up of 60 months (IQR 19–87), 206 incident composite major and minor CV events occurred. In Cox regression analysis high CCSA was associated with more than 100% increased risk of incident CV events ((HR 2.11, 95%CI 1.46–3.1, p < 0.0001), independently of the effect of older age, male sex, PP > 60 mmHg, presence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), carotid plaque (CP), and less anti-RAS therapy (p < 0.05 for all). In treated hypertensive patients, increased CCSA is associated with worse metabolic and lipid profile and predict incident CV events, independently of high PP, presence of LVH and CP.
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Acknowledgements
The authors express their grateful appreciation to Maria Rosaria Cipro, Barbara Taranto, Francesco Scarici, Petrellese Immacolata, Perna Viviana, Di Martino Marilisa, Petriccione Giuseppe, De Novellis Salvatore, Padiglione Eliana, Ruocco Marco, Aulita Fabio, Totio Giuseppe, Giamboni Vittorio and to their coordinator Anna Vitiello for their invaluable support in managing control visits of the CSN patients in our outpatient clinic.
Funding
This study was supported by the Telematic Network Center project Fund; by grant “Ma6 - O.O. 2.1/CUP B25C13000280007”; and by grant PRIN 2015EASE8Z_004/MIUR.
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Mancusi, C., Canciello, G., Losi, M.A. et al. Assessment of carotid cross-sectional area in hypertensive patients: phenotyping and prognostic validation in The Campania Salute Network. J Hum Hypertens 35, 524–529 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-020-0365-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-020-0365-x