Cardiovascular disease stratification based on ultrasound images of the carotid artery

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be identified through ultrasound scans of the arteries and more specific the common carotid artery (CCA). Measurement of the intima–media thickness (IMT) of the CCA is an established indicator of CVD. Several reports have indicated differences in the IMT of CCA and related then with various risk factors as well as their association with the risk of stroke. Along this direction; this chapter presents methods for the stratification of CVD based on manual and automated IMT measurements for both the left and right common carotid arteries. The results are based on a group of 1104 longitudinal ultrasound images acquired from 568 men and 536 women out of which 125 had cardiovascular symptoms (CVD). The main findings can be summarized as follows: (1) there was no significant difference between the CCA left side IMT and the right side IMT; (2) there were statistical significant differences for the IMT measurements between the normal group and the CVD group for both the left and the right sides; (3) there was an increasing linear relationship of the left and right IMT measurements with age for the normal group.