Family History and Preclinical Atherosclerosis

Title: Family History and Preclinical Atherosclerosis

Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Author(s): Silvia Barra, Mario Caprile, Alfredo Madrid and Giovanni Gaeta

Affiliation:

Keywords: Family history, carotid arteries, atherosclerosis, ultrasound, risk factors

Abstract: Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease which begins in the first decade of life. As clinically apparent atherosclerosis occurs in adulthood, there is a very long time-interval in which arterial wall abnormalities constitute asymptomatic or “preclinical” atherosclerosis. High-resolution B-mode ultrasound constitutes a valid, reliable and inexpensive method for detecting early both structural and functional atherosclerotic changes in the arterial wall. Impaired flowmediated dilation of brachial artery and increased thickness of the intima-media complex of the carotid artery have been found in healthy subjects with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In this review we evaluated the influence in healthy young subjects of a positive family history of (premature) coronary artery disease, hypertension or type 2 diabetes mellitus on preclinical atherosclerosis.

Cite this article as:

Barra Silvia, Caprile Mario, Madrid Alfredo and Gaeta Giovanni, Family History and Preclinical Atherosclerosis, Current Hypertension Reviews 2009; 5 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/157340209788166904