Arterial ultrasound screening as a tool for coronary risk assessment in asymptomatic men and women.

One of the imaging tests most commonly used to assess cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in daily practice is Doppler ultrasonography of the carotid and femoral arteries. We included 2709 participants with no history or symptoms of CVD; they had a risk factor assessment and a carotid and femoral ultrasonography at baseline. Incident cases of definite coronary events were recorded during a median follow-up of 6 years. Approximately, 63% of the sample presented abnormalities (carotid stenosis >50%, carotid plaque, femoral plaque, increased intima-media thickness [IMT]). A moderately increased IMT (>0.63 mm) or the presence of carotid or femoral artery plaque was related to prognosis. The associations persisted after adjustment for pretest risk, treatment with statins, and other Doppler ultrasonography abnormalities. The hazard ratio increased significantly with the number of abnormalities (varying from 2.35 [1.16-4.74] to 14.83 [6.47-33.9]).