CardioExchange Archive

July 8th, 2014

USPSTF Finalizes Recommendations on Carotid Artery Stenosis Screening

Nicholas Downing, MD

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against screening for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in the general adult population (grade D recommendation). Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the statement reiterates the group’s 2007 guidance. The harms of screening outweigh the benefits, the task force says. The groups notes that all screening strategies (e.g., […]

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February 6th, 2014

Carotid IMT Testing: Misgraded and Misunderstood

James H Stein, MD and Matthew C Tattersall, DO

James Stein and Matthew Tattersall discuss why they believe carotid artery IMT testing was incorrectly graded in the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines, and tell us what they think the grade should be, and why.

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December 1st, 2011

Heart Over Head or Head Over Heart?

Anju Nohria, MD and James Fang, MD

A 52-year-old man presented with 3 episodes of transient dysarthria and right-sided facial numbness within a 2-week period. A carotid ultrasound revealed >70% stenosis of the left-internal carotid artery and 50%–69% stenosis of the right coronary artery. At age 40, the man had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which was treated with cranial radiation and anthracyclines, […]

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July 21st, 2011

Carotid IMT Provides Modest Improvement to Risk Prediction

Larry Husten, PHD

Measurement of the maximum intima–media thickness (IMT) of the internal carotid artery (CA) can modestly improve cardiovascular risk prediction, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Joseph Polak and colleagues measured the mean IMT of the common CA and the maximum IMT of the internal CA of 2965 subjects […]

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