Measurement of the Carotid Intima, Media and Intima-Media Thickness with Ultrasound and New Software

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We performed this study to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the newly developed Korean software (KS) for measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), which was compared with the commercial software. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 60 consecutive patients (mean of 59 years old, 27 males) undergoing transthoracic echocardiography. We measured the carotid IMT using both software packages, and also measured the intima thickness (IT) and media thickness (MT), separately, using the KS package. RESULTS: Measurement of the IMT was possible in all the study subjects with both software packages, but the separate measurements of the IT and MT was possible in only 24 patients using the KS package. The mean IMT using the commercial and KS packages were 0.727+/-0.157 and 0.733+/-0.156 mm, respectively, which were found to correlate (r=0.985, p=0.000). The mean IMT, IT and MT of the 24 patients were 0.841+/-0.138, 0.340+/-0.033 and 0.505+/-0.124 mm, respectively. The carotid IMT was correlated with the IT and MT and also with the IT/IMT, MT/IMT and IT/MT ratios (r=0.562, p=0.004; r=0.934, p=0.000; r=-0.809, p=0.000; r=0.591, p=0.002; r=-0.754, p=0.000, respectively). The IT was found not to correlate with the MT (r=0.369, p=0.076). Age was found to correlate with the IMT using both the commercial and KS packages (r=0.616, p=0.000; r=0.583, p=0.000, respectively), and with the MT and IT/IMT and IT/MT ratios (r=0.504, p=0.012; r=-0.538, p=0.007; r=-0.428, p=0.037), but not with the IT (r=0.300, p=0.154). CONCLUSION: The newly developed KS was feasible and accurate in measuring the carotid IMT, which can also be used to separately measure the IT and MT.