Measurement of intima media thickness of carotid artery by B-mode ultrasound in healthy people of India and Bangladesh, and relation of age and sex with carotid artery intima media thickness: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: Carotid artery intima media is a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis and related with ethnicity, age, sex, traditional and non-traditional risk factors. Black ethnicity is related to greater mean and maximum carotid artery intima media thickness when compared to South Asians. Our study was done to find out the mean carotid artery intima media thickness (CAIMT) of normal healthy people of India and Bangladesh, and the relationship of non-modifiable risk factors such as age and sex with CAIMT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this observational study, CAIMT of 93 people were examined by B-mode ultrasonography. All subjects underwent a careful interview and clinical, radiological, biochemical examination. Data was analyzed by software statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) (17(th) version for window). RESULTS: In our study, the mean CAIMT of healthy subjects including all age group was (754.94 ± 11.96 micron.). Mean CAIMT was higher in age group of 61-80 years (908.75 ± 39.02 micron) than age group of 20-40 years (713.62 ± 16.59 micron) and 41-60 years (745.55 ± 13.05 micron). CAIMT was positively correlated with age (P value <0.001) and sex (P value=0.001). CONCLUSION: An aggregated analysis based on this study in different age groups of healthy people may be useful for assessing carotid artery abnormalities as an aid to defining abnormalities and predicting risk of atherosclerosis in individual healthy people living in India and Bangladesh.