2016 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 16-20
Background: Subclinical atherosclerosis is a latent precursor of clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD). Several studies have examined the comorbidity of polyvascular disease (PVD) in patients with CVD, but the comorbidity of PVD in asymptomatic subjects has not been fully investigated.
Methods: Vascular screening was performed using MRA for the coronary and renal arteries and ultrasonography for the carotid artery. The calcium score for the coronary artery was analyzed by CT, and the ankle brachial index (ABI) was used for screening of peripheral artery stenosis. The prevalences of carotid, coronary, renal artery and peripheral artery diseases were analyzed in 655 subjects during a health check-up at our institution.
Results: Of the 665 subjects, 434 (65.3%) were males, the mean age was 60 years old, 55.2% had a history of hypertension, 61.7% had dyslipidemia, 13.2% had diabetes mellitus, and 41.2% were current or former smokers. A total of 63 lesions were detected in 58 subjects (8.7%), with 5 subjects (0.75%) having PVD: coronary and carotid lesions in 3 subjects, coronary and renal artery lesions in one, and carotid and renal artery lesions in one.
Conclusion: This is the first study on the prevalence of multiple atherosclerotic lesions in an asymptomatic Japanese population free from clinically apparent CVD. The present study revealed that 8.7% of asymptomatic subjects examined in a health check-up at our institution had multiple atherosclerotic lesions.
