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Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate abdominal aortic calcifications as a predictive factor for acute ischemic cerebral disease by performing a comparative analysis of intima-media thickness (IMT) of carotid artery and abdominal aortic calcifications.
Materials and Methods
We prospectively studied 47 consecutive patients (33 men and 14 women; mean age, 63.6 years) who were suspected of having lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease by performing lower-extremity peripheral CT angiogram. Abdominal aortic calcifications were measured from the diaphragm to the iliac bifurcation. Calcification was defined as more than 130 Hounsfield units on CT. The IMT was measured in the right and left carotid arteries within 1 cm from the carotid bulb on three different occasions.
Results
The mean volume of abdominal aortic calcification was 2422.2 mm3. The mean IMT was 0.80 mm. Abdominal aortic calcification and IMT increased with age. The correlation coefficient for abdominal aortic calcification and IMT was 0.354 (p < 0.05). Also, abdominal aortic calcification was significantly higher in the group that had a relatively thick IMT (> 0.80 mm) than in the group with a relatively thin IMT (≤ 0.80 mm) (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Abdominal aortic calcification was a common but an easily-ignored finding on abdominal CT scanning. Quantitative analysis showed that abdominal aortic calcification was well-correlated with IMT. Therefore, investigating for the presence of abdominal aortic calcification can be helpful in predicting acute ischemic cerebral disease in a patient.
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