[Early B-scan sonographic recognition of extracranial carotid atherosclerosis in patients at risk and its significance from the preventive medicine viewpoint].

High-resolution 10 Mhz sonography was performed on 27 hypertensive patients, 24 diabetics, 39 hypertensive diabetics and 23 normal people in order to demonstrate asymptomatic arteriosclerotic lesions of the extra-cranial carotid artery. Compared with normal controls, diabetics and hypertensives showed increased vessel wall thickness, but only patients with hypertension showed a higher frequency of plaques and relevant carotid stenoses. The left carotid artery is involved more often. On the basis of these results, it appears that the use of B-scan sonography as a preventive measure should be limited to the high-risk hypertensive population.