Study of correlation between H type hypertension and the structural changes of carotid artery

Objective To investigate the correlations of the structural change of carotid artery and the level of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) with the severity of carotid artery atherosclerosis in H type hypertension patients.Methods 295 essential hypertension patients were divided into two groups:H type hypertension group and simple hypertension group according to the concentration of plasma Hcy.All patients were underwent the carotid high-resolution ultrasonic examination and blood biochemical measurement to analyse the ultrasonic parameters and the correlation with the level of plasma Hcy,and to analyse the risk factors of carotid plaques formation.Results Comparison of H type hypertension group with simple hypertension group showed that:there were statistical differences between two groups in plaque detection rate,single plaque detection rate and ≥ 2 plaques detection rate (all P ＜ 0.05) ; there were statistical differences between two groups in intima-media thickness (IMT) with (1.00 ± 0.16)mm vs (0.89 ± 0.18)mm and in plaque score with (4.90 ± 3.77)mm vs (1.88-± 2.28)mm (all P ＜0.05).There were positive correlations of the level of plasma homocysteine with the carotid IMT (r1 =0.371,P =0.000),and with the carotid plaque score (r2 =0.696,P =0.000).The age,IMT≥1.0 mm and Hcy≥10.0μmol/L were risk factors of carotid atherosclerotic plaque formation by the binary Logistic regression analysis.Conclusions The more serious structural damage of carotid artery in H type hypertension compared with simple hypertension showed that there was a synergistic effect between the elevated plasma Hcy and hypertension,and there were positive correlations of the level of plasma Hcy with the plaque formation and the degree of carotid atherosclerosis,the level of plasma Hcy took part in the development process of carotid atherosclerosis. Key words: Ultrasonography;  Hypertension;  Homocysteine; Carotid arteries