Carotid Artery Plaques, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, and Risk of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Death in Older Adults: A 5-Year Prospective, Community-Based Study.

We assessed the effect of asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) on the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in a community-based population aged ≥55 years in China. A total of 1376 residents underwent CAS assessment by ultrasonography in July 2009. New CVD events, including stroke and coronary heart events, were collected at the follow-up survey at the end of 2014. After adjusting for baseline demographic characteristics and traditional CVD risk factors, the risk of CVD in patients with minimal CAS (mean common carotid artery intima-media thickness [CCA-IMT] ≥1 mm and no plaques), nonstenotic plaques (carotid stenosis <50%), and stenotic plaques (carotid stenosis ≥50%) was 0.8 (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.33-1.69), 2.0 (HR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.24-3.25), and 3.1 (HR: 3.05, 95% CI: 1.62-5.74) times greater, respectively, than that of patients without CAS (CCA-IMT <1 mm and no plaques). Our findings provide direct evidence of the independent predictive value of the severity of asymptomatic CAS for the development of CVD in older Chinese adults.