Carotid intima-media thickness progression predicts cardiovascular events in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes

Aims

The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the relationship between progression of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and cardiovascular events in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and free of history of cardiovascular events.

Methods

Patients with T2DM (n = 342) without history of cardiovascular events whose cIMT was assessed more than twice by ultrasonography were recruited and followed up for cardiovascular events.

Results

During a mean follow-up of 7.6 years, 56 (16.4%) cardiovascular events (27 coronary events and 29 cerebrovascular events) were recorded. Multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazard model identified cIMT progression as a significant determinant of cardiovascular events, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.24 (95% confidence interval; CI, 1.25–4.03, P < 0.01), in addition to baseline cIMT. The Kaplan–Meier curves also showed significantly higher event rate in patients with high cIMT progression compared with those with low cIMT progression (log-rank χ² = 6.65; P < 0.01). Furthermore, the combination of high baseline cIMT and high cIMT progression was a significant predictor of cardiovascular events.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that cIMT progression, in addition to baseline cIMT, is a predictor of cardiovascular events in patients with T2DM without history of cardiovascular events, and that the combination of cIMT progression and baseline cIMT has a strong predictive power for such events.