| Summary: | Introduction
Smoking is one of the most important preventable causes of
cardiovascular diseases. Vascular disease caused by smoking is associated with
vascular endothelial damage, platelet aggregation, and adhesion. In our study,
we examined the effect of chronic smoking on vessel wall stiffness in smokers
and control group by measuring carotid artery wall stiffness by shear wave
ultrasonography.
Methods
Sixty-two smokers of similar ages and genders, and 67 people who never
smoked in the last ten years were included as the control group in this crosssectional
study. Arterial wall stiffness over the common carotid arteries of all
participants was measured by shear wave elastography (SWE). In addition, each
patient's blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, body mass index (BMI), HDL and
LDL cholesterol measurements were recorded.
Results
Arterial wall stiffness values in smokers were found to be statistically
significantly higher than in non-smokers. The mean of SWE measurements of the
smokers was 47.3 ± 6.2 kPa, and that of the control group was 42.9 ± 4 kPa. The
mean values of HDL and LDL of the smokers were 46.9 ± 5.6 mg/dL and 147.3
± 9.3 mg/dL, respectively, and those of the control group were 50.3 ± 5.1 mg/dL
and 136.9 ± 5.9 mg/dL. The LDL cholesterol values were statistically significantly
higher in smokers compared to the control group, and HDL cholesterol values
were statistically significantly lower in smokers.
Conclusions
In our study, the arterial wall stiffness values measured by the SWE
technique were higher in smokers than non-smokers.
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