Introduction: Arteries are made up three layers; tunica intima, tunica media, and tunica adventitia. However, in some part of the artery this structure may change. The greatest change occurs at the junctions and bifurcations. In this regard, we decided to study the renal artery bifurcation just where the renal arteries divide into smaller arteries before entering the kidney. Methods: The struc...

BACKGROUND Carotid atherosclerosis is associated with subclinical ischemic cerebrovascular disease, but its role in hemorrhage-prone small vessel disease-represented by cerebral microbleed (CMB)-is unclear, although vascular risk factors underlie both conditions. We hypothesized that persons with carotid atherosclerosis would have higher risk of CMB, particularly in deep regions. METHODS AND ...

BACKGROUND Preeclampsia (PE) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Ultrasound assessment of the common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) during or after PE has not indicated any increased cardiovascular risk. METHODS AND RESULTS We used high-frequency ultrasound (22 MHz) to estimate the individual common carotid artery IMTs in 55 women at PE diag...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Carotid atherosclerosis has been associated with increased risk of stroke and poorer cognitive performance in older adults. The relation of carotid atherosclerosis to cognitive impairment and MRI indices of ischemia and aging in midlife is less clear. METHODS We studied 1975 Framingham Offspring Study participants free of stroke and dementia with available carotid ultra...

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated strongly with an increased risk of micro- and macro-vascular complications, leading to impaired quality of life and shortened life expectancy. In addition to appropriate glycemic control, multi-factorial intervention for a wide range of risk factors, such as hypertension and dyslipidemia, is crucial for management of diabetes. A recent cardiovas...

BACKGROUND Shoulder pain is a common health problem. The purpose of this study was to assess the associations of lifestyle factors, metabolic factors and carotid intima-media thickness with shoulder pain and chronic (> 3 months) rotator cuff tendinitis. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, the target population consisted of subjects aged 30 years or older participating in a national Finnish...

The aim of this study was to identify the main factor affecting compliance and intima-media thickness of the elastic common carotid artery in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients. Increased intima-media thickness and decreased arterial compliance are associated with elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. This study included 20 patients and 20 age- and sex- matched healthy contro...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Carotid intima-media thickness is a marker for subclinical atherosclerosis that predicts subsequent clinical cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to identify chromosomal loci with linkage or association to common carotid intima-media thickness. METHODS Nuclear families were recruited using the single parental proband sib-pair design. Genotype data were avail...

OBJECTIVES Atherosclerosis is an important risk factor for coronary heart disease. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and its receptors, located in peripheral tissue such as white adipose tissue, have been linked to obesity and fat storage. The role of NPY in atherosclerosis has not yet been fully studied, so this study was conducted to further investigate the effect of BIIE 0246, an NPY receptor antagonist,...

OBJECTIVE Postprandial hyperglycemia observed in type 2 diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of strict glycemic control by nateglinide on common carotid far wall intima-media thickness in type 2 diabetic patients who were already under good glycemic control. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed an open labeled randomized prosp...