Abstract 13709: Incident Congestive Heart Failure and Common Carotid Artery Diameter: The Framingham Offspring Study

Background: Common carotid artery (CCA) diameter is believed to be associated with left ventricular (LV) mass through ventricular-arterial coupling. It is not clear if CCA diameter is also predictive of incident congestive heart failure. Materials and Methods: CCA lumen diameters were measured following ultrasound examinations in 2965 individuals free of prevalent cardiovascular disease (mean age 57.9 years; 54.9% women) of the Framingham Offspring Study, a community based cohort followed longitudinally. Incident congestive heart failure (CHF) was determined after an average follow-up of 10.3 years. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were generated after adjustment for age, gender, and Framingham risk factors. Results: Incident CHF occurred in 99 individuals only 10 of which had interval myocardial infarction. After adjustment for risk factors, CCA diameter was a significant predictor of incident CHF, 43% increased risk per mm. Results of a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model are shown...