Carotid ultrasound predicts stroke, heart attack risks

October 6, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Carotid ultrasound predicts stroke, heart attack risks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carotid artery plaque examinations performed with serial ultrasound scans could help identify patients at high risk for a heart attack or other potentially lethal cardiovascular conditions. Dr. Markus Reiter, at the Medical University of Vienna, evaluated 1268 asymptomatic patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease using computer-assisted gray-scale median (GSM) ultrasound carotid measurements. Plaque volume identified carotid disease in 574 patients who had a second ultrasound exam six to nine months later to measure plaque changes. Nearly half of those patients had lower GSM levels, and 37% experienced a major adverse cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack, a stroke, or cardiac surgery, within three years of the second ultrasound. Vulnerable carotid plaque indicated not only increased risk of stroke but also disease progression elsewhere in the cardiovascular system.

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