| Summary: | Background: Microwave Radiometry (MWR) is a new validated method, which allows evaluation of thermal heterogeneity of carotid arteries and is associated with inflammation.Purpose: The aim of this pilot study was to determine if thermal heterogeneity in the carotid arteries is associated with aortic elastic properties in patients with dyslipidemia and whether treatment for dyslipidemia affects thermal heterogeneity.
Method: Twenty-nine patients with dyslipidemia (mean age 42 ± 13 years, range 22–75, 19 men) without known cardiovascular disease, underwent assessment of carotid thermal heterogeneity (temperature difference-ΔT) using MWR. Mean common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was also assessed. Twenty-one patients were treated for 6 months with statin or/and ezetimibe and thermal heterogeneity was assessed after treatment.
Results: There was a positive correlation between ΔT and cIMT (r = 0.474, p = 0.009). In multivariate regression analysis, after adjustment for potential confounders such as age, sex, mean blood pressure and body-mass index, cIMT showed a positive correlation with ΔT in carotid arteries (Adjusted R2 = 0.258, p = 0.048). Thermal heterogeneity after 6 months of treatment was reduced statistically significant (0.88 ± 0.42 to 0.58 ± 0.29 °C, p = 0.021) (Image).
Conclusion: In a group of patients with dyslipidemia thermal heterogeneity in the carotid arteries was positively associated with carotid subclinical atherosclerosis. Moreover, dyslipidemia treatment reduced thermal heterogeneity after a short-term period, implying a beneficial effect of treatment on thermal heterogeneity.
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