Abstract
Background: It has been shown that aging and arterial hypertension are both associated with an increased prevalence of carotid structural abnormalities, such as intima-media (IM) thickening or plaques, which are a powerful independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) events. We investigated the impact of carotid IM thickening in profiling the absolute CV risk stratification according the 1999 World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) guidelines in elderly hypertensive patients. Methods: Two hundred and thirty untreated elderly patients (>65 years) referred to our outpatient hospital clinic were included in the study. They underwent the following procedures: (i) medical history, physical examination and clinic blood pressure measurement; (ii) routine blood chemistry and urine analysis; (iii) electrocardiogram. The risk was initially stratified according to the routine procedures indicated by WHO/ISH guidelines and subsequently reassessed by adding the results of carotid ultrasonography (IM thickening as diffuse IM thickness >0.9 and
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 25-31 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Blood Pressure |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2003 |
Keywords
- Cardiovascular risk stratification
- Carotid intima-media thickening
- Elderly
- Hypertension
- Ultrasonography
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Internal Medicine
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine