Natural History of Carotid Atherosclerosis

A Prospective Natural History Study of Carotid Atherosclerosis

A prospective study of 700 patients with coronary artery disease will undergo non invasive evaluation of their carotid arteries by ultrasound and microwave radiometry. The patients will be followed up for 3 years and their outcome regarding the cardiovascular events (death, cardiac events, cerebrovascular events) will be recorded

Carotid artery Thermal heterogeneity recorded by MR will be corelated to cardiovascular events (death, cardiac events, cerebrovascular events) as well as to all demographic (age, sex, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking status, etc) factors

Inclusion Criteria:

• Consecutive patients with coronary artery disease admitted in our hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with history of previous cerebrovascular event,
• History of vasculitis, intermittent inflammatory, infectious, or neoplastic conditions likely to be associated with an acute-phase response.