TY - JOUR T1 - Analysis of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by carotid ultrasonography JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p4060 AU - Sayaka Tachibana AU - Shoko Sonobe AU - Utako Fujii AU - Yasuko Fuchimoto AU - Masaaki Shiojiri AU - Koji Inoue AU - Norihiko Nakanishi AU - Tomonori Moritaka AU - Yasufumi Yamaji AU - Shinya Tada AU - Tadashi Kamei AU - Nobuo Ueda Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4060.abstract N2 - Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. Atherosclerosis is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. We tested the hypothesis that there is a close association between atherosclerosis and disease severity of COPD.Methods: We recruited 46 subjects with COPD (45 male-1 female, 42 ex-smokers, 4 current smokers, aged (74.7±7.9)). All subjects underwent spirometry and carotid ultrasonography. The severity of COPD was determined by GOLD Staging System for COPD Severity Definition. We measured carotid intima-media thickness, and determined the maximal intima-media thickness (IMTmax) value as the indicator of atherosclerosis.Results: Average IMTmax value in all subjects was 1.9±1.1 mm. IMTmax value was 2.2±1.2 mm in stage I (n=3), 1.7±1.0 mm in stage II (n=15), 2.0±1.1 mm in stage III (n=16), and 2.0±1.4 mm in stage IV (n=12). There were no differences of IMTmax values among the stages of COPD. IMTmax values were higher in subjects with ischemic heart disease (n=5) compared to those without ischemic heart disease (n=41) (IMTmax value: 2.7±1.6 mm vs. 1.9±1.1 mm, p<0.05). 3 subjects had lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans (IMTmax value was 2.1±0.4 mm).Conclusions: Atherosclerosis was not associated with disease severity of COPD. This study suggests that atherosclerosis progresses even in patients with mild COPD, especially in those who are associated with ischemic heart disease. ER -