Survey of atherosclerotic disease in Asian subjects with cardiovascular disease risk factors who were not receiving lipid-lowering agents

Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) is a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis, used to identify asymptomatic individuals at increased risk of cardiovascular events. The primary objective of this study was to obtain the distribution of CIMT measurements in Asian individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors who were not receiving lipid-lowering agents.Mean CIMT based on ultrasonographic measurement of 12 sites within the common carotid artery was recorded for 2726 subjects across eight Asian countries who had two or more CVD risk factors but were not receiving lipid-lowering therapy. CVD risk factors and lipid and glucose profiles were analyzed with respect to distribution of CIMT and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) values.The overall mean (SD) of mean CIMT (mean-mean CIMT) was 0.662 (0.16) mm. There was a significant variation in mean-mean CIMT across countries (