Measurement of carotid intima media thickness in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who underwent carotid Doppler in a tertiary hospital of Nepal

Abstract

Objective: We conducted a descriptive cross sectional study to measure the carotid intima media thickness by ultrasonography in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients attending our tertiary hospital. Methodology: Study population consisted of 70 patients (42 males & 28 females) diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and referred to Department of Radiology for Carotid Doppler examination. Inclusion criteria were age > 25 years, normotensive & diagnosed T2DM at least one year back. Type 1 Diabetic patients, hypertensive patients and patients with history of stroke were excluded from the study. B-mode ultrasonography of common carotid and internal carotid arteries of both side was performed by same Radiologist in Toshiba Aplio 400 USG machine using 7-12 MHz linear probe. Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) was measured at common carotid artery, carotid bulb and internal carotid artery on each side and average value was calculated. Collected data was entered in SPSS 20 and analyzed. Results: Mean CIMT was 0.88±0.12 mm ranging from 0.71 mm to 1.4 mm. Mean CIMT value was more in male than in female. Mean age of the study population was 53.8 years. Mean CIMT was seen increasing with age with highest value of 1.20±0.17 mm in 60 years or older and lowest value of 0.75±0.08 mm in < 40 years. Conclusion: This study showed patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus have increased carotid intima media thickness and its measurement by ultrasonography is useful tool for early detection of risk of cardiovascular attack associated with the disease