Effects of smoking on carotid artery structures and haemodynamics: role of the radiographer in ultrasound assessment

• Author(s): Simão, Diogo ; Ribeiro, Luís ; Abrantes, António ; Pinheiro, João ; Almeida, Rui ; Rodrigues, Sónia
• Date: 2018
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17937
• Origin: Sapientia - Universidade do Algarve
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Sapientia

Description

The goal of this research was to assess the effect of tobacco on structural and haemodynamic parameters in carotid arteries. 103 subjects (51 smokers and 52 non-smokers) were evaluated by a trained radiographer using ultrasound equipment. The smokers group was divided into four different categories depending on the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Several parameters were evaluated by B-mode and pulsed Doppler images acquired in longitudinal and transverse sections of the common carotid arteries: intima-media thickness (IMT), peak systolic velocity (PSV) and end-diastolic velocity (EDV). Our results suggest that smoking has negative effects on carotid artery structure and haemodynamics, and female smokers are more likely to develop vascular changes. Smoking is a risk factor for alterations in carotid artery haemodynamics.