Carotid plaque score and intima media thickness as predictors of stroke and mortality in hypertensive patients

The mean intima media thickness (IMT) and plaque score from carotid ultrasonography are both widely used to evaluate macrovascular atherosclerotic change. The present study sought to examine which parameter more effectively predicts patient prognosis. This hospital-based cohort study included 356 patients with essential hypertension (mean age: 62.4 +/- 0.6). We investigated how the mean IMT and plaque score correlated with various parameters, including pulse wave velocity (PWV), and we assessed the ability of the mean IMT and plaque score to predict cardiovascular events and total mortality. The mean IMT and plaque score significantly correlated with systemic atherosclerotic change, target organ damage, age and PWV. Subjects with a higher mean IMT and subjects with higher plaque scores showed higher frequencies of stroke and total mortality. In addition, subjects with marginal thickening of the intima media (mean >= 0.7) showed a significantly higher frequency of stroke than subjects with a mean IMT of <0.7. After adjustment for traditional risk factors, plaque score was significantly and independently predictive of stroke, and the predictive ability of the plaque score for the onset of stroke was equivalent to that of PWV. The mean IMT and plaque score showed a nonsignificant trend of higher risk of mortality after adjustment for traditional risk factors. The mean IMT and plaque score were significantly correlated with systemic atherosclerotic change. We revealed that plaque score predicted the onset of stroke more accurately than the mean IMT, and the accuracy of this prediction was equivalent to that from PWV in hypertensive patients. We also showed that marginal thickening of the intima media (as measured by mean IMT) may be a predictor of stroke.