Abstract
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in Japan and primary and secondary prevention of this disastrous disease are unquestionablly important. Ultrasonographic assessment of carotid atherosclerosis is noninvasive and quite useful for evaluating not only the direct cause of stroke but also for predicting cardiovascular events in patients with risk factors such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, etc. In order to employ this carotid ultrasonographic evaluation for cardiovascular risk assessment, standerdization of the parameters reflecting the degree of carotid atherosclerosis is essential and such a guideline for the assessment of carotid atherosclerosis was reported in Neurosonology, official journal of the Japan Academy of Neurosonology in 2002. Here, the essence of this report was introduced and the importance of employing the common carotid far wall maximum intima-media thickness (IMT-Cmax) as standard index reflecting cardiovascular risk is stressed.
