Risk Factors of Carotid Stenosis in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Background: Patients with advanced coronary artery disease (CAD) need to undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). One of the most common postoperative complications of this procedure is neurologic impairment caused by carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 300 CABG candidates underwent carotid artery Doppler ultrasonography. The association and correlation of cardiovascular risk factors with carotid artery stenosis (CAS) were also evaluated. Results: Of the patients, 50.3% (151) were male, and 49.7% (149) were female, and no significant relationship was seen between sex and carotid stenosis. In contrast, age, cigarette smoking, history of addiction, family history of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), hypertension (HTN), hyperlipidemia (HLP), diabetes, cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs), transient ischemic attacks (TIA), and myocardial infarctions were associated with carotid stenosis in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft. None of the cardiovascular risk factors were significantly correlated with carotid stenosis. Conclusions: Cardiovascular risk factors, except sex, are associated with more prominent CAS; however, the correlations of such risk factors with CAS are not statistically significant.