Age- and gender-specific gradient of arterial wall intima-media

   Arterial intima-media thickness (IMT) is qualitative and quantitative marker of generalized atherosclerosis as well as a predictor of CVD strongly associated with the presence and level of CVD risk-factors. In the frame of a Siberian WHO MONICA Project and European Project on Genes in Hypertension (EPOGH) the representative population sample aged  18-63 (6 58 pers., mean age - 41.9 yrs) was examined by standard epidemiological methods followed by high-resolution carotid ultrasonography. The mean age-standardized IMT in men was significantly higher than in women (0.64 + 0.007 vs 0.58 + 0.012, p < 0.001). The IMT range in men was of 0.30­ 1.70 mm, 10 %- and 90 % cut-off points of the IMT distribution were 0.50 and 0.90 mm, correspondently. In women IMT range was of 0.30-1.30 mm, 10 %- and 90 % cut-off points of the IMT distribution were 0.40 and 0.80 mm, respectively. IMT consequently increased by age in both sexes, and was more remarkable in men (p < 0.001). The growth of IMT by decade varied in men and women from 0.005 to 0.17 mm. The most intensive IMT increase was observed in men, particularly in 35-44 year decade, comparing to women. Carotid IMT in a Siberian city population is similar to ones in North American and some European populations (Netherlands, Germany) and is higher than in France and Japan. The mean IMT and its growth intensity are higher in men than in women up to the age of 55 when increase rate became equal in both sexes. The sex-specific differences in early atherosclerotic morphology revealed by ultrasound may contribute to excess of coronary risk in middle age Siberian men.

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