http://www.theheart.org/article/1436919.do
Common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurement does not add clinically meaningful information to the Framingham risk score for predicting a person's 10-year risk of first MI or stroke, according to a meta-analysis of relevant studies [1].
"Our results suggest that common CIMT
measurements should not routinely be performed in the general
population, as the overall added value may be too limited to result in
health benefits," the authors say.
"This will come as a surprise for a number of
physicians: those who have applied the common CIMT measurement in their
routine clinical practice and seen potential benefit," senior author Dr Michiel L Bots
(University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands) said in an
interview. "Our findings, however, indicate that, on average, common
CIMT does not help risk stratification when information of established
risk factors is already available."
The study was published in the August 22, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Great article. A component of the Carotid IMT test is the plaque evaluation which is not quantified in this study. I'd love to see more research in this area. Vasolabs is putting out an article to address this. I believe Bale/Doneen has as well. It will be interesting to see where the science takes us.
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