ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the potential relationship between the characteristics of atherosclerotic plaque of carotid artery and cardiovascular events in a senior cohort of Renqiu region,Hebei.Methods A random cluster sampling method was used to identify study population among 60 -70 years old residence in Renqiu region, Hebei.In the face of health questionnaire survey,neck vascular ultrasound examination,a total of 4 413 cases,inclu-ding 1 876 males and 2 537 females,the occurrence of carotid artery plaque and stenosis were detected by ultrasound. Carotid ultrasound was used to identify the characteristic of atherosclerotic plaque of bilateral carotid arteries,which were categorized as with and without plaque,single and multiple plaque,homogenous and heterogeneous plaque,and with and without stenosis.Cardiovascular events were defined as composite events of myocardial infarction,cardiovas-cular death,fatal or non -fatal stroke during the subsequent 2 years follow -up after initial evaluation.Multiple Logis-tic regression was performed to identify the association between the characteristics of bilateral carotid arteries and cardiovascular events.Results A total of 4 413 case enrolled in the study.With carotid ultrasound,2 438 cases (55.2%)were found to be with atherosclerotic plaque formation and 235(5.3%)were with carotid artery stenosis. The proportion of single,multiple,homogeneous and heterogeneous plaques were 1 024cases(23.2%),1 114cases (32.0%),1 106cases(25.1%)and 1 333cases(30.2%),respectively.Among them,the single plaque and new cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events occured in 83 cases(P =0.168),the multiple plaques and new cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events occured in 161 cases(P <0.001 ),the homogeneous patch and new cerebral vascular events occured in 98 cases(P =0.032),the non -homogeneous patch and new cerebral vascular events occured in 146 cases(P <0.001),the stenosis and cerebral vascular events occured in 42 cases(P <0.001).Taken the new onset cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events as dependent variable,the single factor analysis showed that the carotid plaques(χ2 =14.969,P <0.001 ),and the multiple plaque(χ2 =22.509,P <0.001 ),the carotid artery stenosis (χ2 =27.561,P <0.001),the homogeneous plaque(χ2 =4.606,P <0.050),the non -homogeneous plaque(χ2 =18.301,P <0.001),the history of hypertension(χ2 =33.709,P <0.001),the high blood fat disease(χ2 =11.262, P <0.001),and the history of diabetes(χ2 =5.525,P <0.050),the coronary heart disease history(χ2 =10.440, P <0.001),the gender(χ2 =5.606,P <0.050),the smoking(χ2 =4.823,P <0.050)and the systolic blood pressure value,were all associated with the new cardio cerebral vascular events.Multivariate analysis showed that,the heterogeneous plaque(β=0.371,P <0.050),the carotid artery stenosis(β=0.621,P <0.050),the history of hypertension(β=0.517,P <0.001)and smoking(β=0.264,P <0.050)were shown to be significantly associates with new onset cardiovascular events.Conclusion The characteristics of atherosclerotic plaque of carotid artery were significantly associated with the subsequent cardiovascular events among 60 -70 years old residence in Renqiu region,Hebei.Routine carotid ultrasound screening might be useful for identify those people with high risk of develo-ping cardiovascular events.