Department of Vascular Disease, University Medical Centre Ljubljana.
Ultraschall Med. 2012 Dec;33(7):E268-E274. doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1273471. Epub 2011 Aug 23.
Recent findings indicate that enlargement of the diameter of the peripheral arteries represents a risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events. As the data indicate a relationship between atherosclerosis and venous thrombosis (VT), we investigated whether the diameter of the peripheral arteries is larger in patients with idiopathic VT than in healthy subjects.
The study included 49 patients with idiopathic VT and 48 age-matched healthy controls. Diameters of the brachial, common carotid and common femoral arteries as well as the intima media thickness (IMT) of the carotid and femoral arteries were measured with the high frequency ultrasound method.
Patients had significantly higher values for the diameter of the common carotid artery than the controls: 7.9 mm (7.4 - 8.4 mm) vs. 7.4 mm (7.0 - 7.9 mm), p < 0.001, and for the common femoral artery: 10.3 mm (9.2 - 11.1 mm) vs. 9.5 mm (8.9 - 10.4 mm), p = 0.025. Both the carotid and femoral diameters showed significant correlations with gender, age, body mass index and IMT. Linear regression analysis confirmed that the presence of VT significantly and independently influenced the diameter of the carotid and femoral artery but not the brachial artery.
The results of our study showed that carotid and femoral artery diameters are enlarged in patients with idiopathic VT in comparison to healthy subjects. Since enlargement of the investigated arterial diameters is an indicator of atherosclerosis, our findings are consistent with the presumption that there is some interrelationship between VT and arterial atherosclerotic disease.
最近的研究结果表明，外周动脉直径的增大代表了动脉粥样硬化性心血管事件的风险。由于数据表明动脉粥样硬化与静脉血栓形成（VT）之间存在关联，我们研究了特发性 VT 患者的外周动脉直径是否大于健康受试者。
本研究纳入了 49 例特发性 VT 患者和 48 名年龄匹配的健康对照者。使用高频超声方法测量肱动脉、颈总动脉和股总动脉的直径以及颈动脉和股动脉的内中膜厚度（IMT）。
患者的颈总动脉直径明显大于对照组：7.9mm（7.4-8.4mm）比 7.4mm（7.0-7.9mm），p<0.001，股总动脉直径也明显大于对照组：10.3mm（9.2-11.1mm）比 9.5mm（8.9-10.4mm），p=0.025。颈动脉和股动脉直径均与性别、年龄、体重指数和 IMT 显著相关。线性回归分析证实，VT 的存在显著且独立地影响颈动脉和股动脉的直径，但不影响肱动脉的直径。
我们的研究结果表明，与健康受试者相比，特发性 VT 患者的颈动脉和股动脉直径增大。由于所研究的动脉直径增大是动脉粥样硬化的指标，因此我们的发现与 VT 和动脉粥样硬化性疾病之间存在某种相互关系的假设一致。
