Article : Accept No Substitute: Progression...

Accept No Substitute: Progression of Carotid Intima–Media Thickness and Cardiovascular Risk

A patient-level meta-analysis suggests no association between change in cIMT and risk for cardiovascular events.

Although increased carotid intima–media thickness (cIMT) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events, it is uncertain whether a change in cIMT is associated with a change in risk. To assess such an association, investigators pooled patient-level data from 16 longitudinal studies including 36,984 participants with a mean follow-up of 7 years.


Progression of cIMT was not associated with a significantly increased risk for cardiovascular events. For every standard deviation increase in mean common cIMT, the adjusted hazard ratio was 0.98 (95% confidence interval, 0.95–1.01). Quintiles of cIMT progression were not associated with differences in risk. No heterogeneity in HRs was detected between studies in the analysis.


Citation(s):


Lorenz MW et al. Carotid intima-media thickness progression to predict cardiovascular events in the general population (the PROG-IMT collaborative project): A meta-analysis of individual participant data. Lancet 2012 Jun 2; 379:2053.

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