Treatment with betablockers is associated with higher grey-scale median in carotid plaques

BMC Cardiovascular Disorders

Isabel Gonçalves¹  Jan Nilsson³  Ana Persson¹  Nuno V Dias²  Giuseppe Asciutto² 

[1] Department of Cardiology, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden;Vascular Center Malmö-Lund, Skåne University Hospital, Ruth Lundskogs gata 10, 1st floor, Malmö 205 02, Sweden;Experimental Cardiovascular Research Unit, Clinical Research Center, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

关键词: Carotid plaque;    Carotid artery;    Grey-scale median;    Betablockers;   

Others  :  1088461
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2261-14-111

 received in 2014-04-18, accepted in 2014-08-26,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The presence of echolucent carotid plaques as defined by low ultrasound grey-scale median (GSM) is associated with a higher risk of stroke and myocardial infarction. Betablockers have shown possible anti-atherosclerotic effects. The aim of the present study was to determine if there is an association between carotid plaque GSM and treatment with betablockers.

Methods

The GSM of the carotid plaques of 350 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for asymptomatic (n = 113) or symptomatic (n = 237) carotid disease was measured. Patients were divided in two groups based on the absence/presence of an on-going long-term (i.e. at least 6 months) oral treatment with betablockers at the time of CEA.

Results

The prevalence and type of preoperative neurological symptoms were similar in the two groups. Patients with betablockers had more frequently arterial hypertension (P < .0001), diabetes (P = .035) and a higher BMI (P = .0004), while patients without betablockers were most frequently smokers (P = .017).

Patients with betablockers revealed to have higher GSM (37.79 ± 25 vs 32.61 ± 23.50 P = .036). Echogenic plaques (i.e. with GSM > 30) showed to be more frequent in patients with betablockers also after correction for age, gender, the occurrence of preoperative symptoms, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and statins use (P = .024).

Conclusions

These results suggest the use of standardized ultrasound techniques as an important tool in evaluating the effect of anti-atherosclerotic medications and underline the need of.further prospective randomized studies on larger patient cohorts in order to confirm these results.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Asciutto et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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