Carotid artery ultrasound with measurement of intimal-media thickness (IMT)

Vascular ultrasound imaging is highly accessible, reproducible, safe, and validated as a surrogate endpoint for atherosclerosis. Noninvasive carotid ultrasound (both cross-sectional and longitudinal) is highly suitable for human cardiovascular health assessment in those at risk, as well as for the efficacy assessment of therapeutic and preventive measures. The figure shows B-mode ultrasound images of the carotid artery of a 35-year-old male with type 1 diabetes mellitus without symptomatic cardiovascular disease.
(A) In the overview image the sonographer selects a region of interest of the carotid artery.
(B) The expanded high-resolution 1.2 x 1.2 cm image is used for the carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) measurement. The distance between lumen–intima interface and the media–adventitia interface, as depicted by the arrows, shows an increased c-IMT of 1.12 mm in this high at risk subject (reference common c-IMT for gender and age 0.55 to 0.65 mm).