Association of Coronary Artery Disease with Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Women Population Presenting to Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi

bstract Objective: To determine the association of coronary artery disease (CAD) with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in women population presenting to Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi. Methodology: With ethical approval, a descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out from June 2023 to November 2023 at the Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi. After obtaining informed consent, 200 female patients with CAD were included using nonprobability convenient sampling. These patients then underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention to diagnose CAD and also determine its severity. The SYNTAX score and the number of diseased vessels were used to determine the disease’s severity. The CIMT of the patients was estimated using the B-mode ultrasound. Version 25 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to carry out the analysis. Results: The participants had a mean CIMT of 0.85+0.14 mm. The mean CIMT was significantly higher in triple vessel disease (0.97+0.16 mm) versus double vessel disease (0.85+0.11 mm) and single vessel disease (0.78+0.10 mm). The CIMT value was much higher in patients with SYNTAX score >33 (0.96+0.14 mm) compared to score 23-32 (0.85+0.15 mm) and <22 (0.80+0.10 mm). The CIMT was higher in patients with increased age and those with diabetes mellitus and hypertension, with statistical significance. However, the association between CIMT and smoking was insignificant. Conclusion: According to the SYNTAX score and the number of diseased vessels, patients with severe CAD had higher CIMT in our study. Thus, an authentic, safe and noninvasive way of determining the severity of CAD is the carotid intima-media thickness.