ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and left atrial and left ventricular enlargement in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods A total of 224 patients with acute cerebral infarction were included. Based on the thickness of CIMT, it was divided into three groups which were normal CIMT group, thickening CIMT group, and carotid plaque (CP) group, with 57, 97, and 70 patients included respectively. Clinical data were collected, and carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound, cardiac color Doppler ultrasound and other examinations were determined to carry out relevant statistical analysis.Results The left anterior-posterior diameter (LAD) , left atrial diameter index (LADI) , left ventricular end-diastolic septal thickness (IVSD) , and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in the CP group were all higher than those in the normal CIMT group and thickening CIMT group (P < 0.05). The percentage of the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) took in the thickening CIMT group were both higher than those in the CP group (P < 0.05). Multi-factor logistic regression analysis indicated that there were statistically significant differences in age, homocysteine and left LVMI (P < 0.05). In the Pearson correlation analysis, CIMT and LADI were positively correlated (r= 0.184, P < 0.01) , and there was a positive correlation between CIMT and LVMI (r = 0.236, P < 0.01). Conclusions Left ventricular enlargement is one of the highrisk factors for CIMT abnormalities in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Left atrial and left ventricular enlargement are closely correlated to the severity of CIMT in patients with acute cerebral infarction, indicating that abnormal CIMT in patients with acute cerebral infarction has a certain predictive effect on left atrial and left ventricular enlargement.