The American Heart Association recognizes Carotid Intima Media Thickness testing as a valid tool for Early Detection of cardiovascular disease.

Carotid Intima Media Thickness testing has been recognized by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and by the American Society of Echocardiography as a valid tool for the early detection of cardiovascular disease.

The American Journal of Cardiology noted in 2016 in a large registry cohort, that “carotid ultrasound measurements of intima-media thickness (CIMT) are non-invasive, safe, and inexpensive and provide information on subclinical atherosclerosis.  CIMT measures predict subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, especially stroke, and improve prediction of events beyond global risk assessment.” The American Heart Association published guidelines that validated ultrasound measurement of IMT as a test for early detection of cardiovascular disease.

acc report chart Cypress Heart Health Early Detection

The American Heart Association published guidelines that validated ultrasound measurement of IMT as a test for early detection of cardiovascular disease. 

The validity of carotid IMT has been well documented through peer review journals and other articles and publications from a wide variety of sources. A study in “Circulation” from The Journal of the American Heart Association found that CIMT is a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis. The predictive value of IMT was validated in a study assessing the role of carotid arterial intima-media thickness in predicting clinical coronary events that was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Similar articles have been published in “Stroke” from The Journal of the American Heart Association and in the Journal of the College of Cardiology.  

Download the ACC Paper

Carotid Plaque Characterization, Stenosis, and Intima-Media Thickness According to Age and Gender in a Large Registry Cohort

This report supports the findings by: Nancy M. Boulos, MPHa, Julius M. Gardin, MD, MBAb, Shaista Malik, MD, PhDa, John Postley, MDc, and Nathan D. Wong, PhD, MPHa.

Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a well-established predictor of cardiovascular disease events. Not well described, however, is the prevalence of plaque and stenosis severity and how this varies according to extent of CIMT, age, and gender. We evaluated the extent of carotid plaque and stenosis severity according to CIMT, age, and gender in a large CIMT screening registry. We studied 9,347 women and 12,676 men (n [ 22,023) who received carotid ultrasound scans.

Download the PDF

The Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force has recommended a new practice guideline for cardiovascular screening in the asymptomatic at-risk population. This group was comprised of leading cardiologists throughout the country. In summary, the SHAPE Guideline calls for noninvasive screening of all asymptomatic men 45-75 years of age and asymptomatic women 55-75 years of age (except those defined as very-low-risk) to detect and treat those with sub-clinical atherosclerosis. The SHAPE Report points out that, “In the existing guidelines the low-risk and intermediate-risk population account for the majority of heart attacks, and only less than 20% of the total number of the events results from the high-risk population6.”

CIMT has become widely accepted in the patient care community as physicians have recognized the importance of identifying cardiovascular disease at its earliest stages at the primary care physician level.

ACC Branding 1 e1506627046914 Cypress Heart Health Early Detection
AHALogo full red blk 2x e1506627075168 Cypress Heart Health Early Detection