Dutch researchers have found that older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for carotid artery plaque formation and for the presence of vulnerable plaques with a lipid core, according to a study in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The cross-sectional study included 253 COPD patients and 920 control subjects 55 years of age and older. Subjects with carotid wall thickening on ultrasound underwent high-resolution MRI to characterize carotid plaques.
Individuals with COPD had a twofold increased risk of carotid wall thickening on ultrasonography compared to the control group, according to the researchers. This risk increased significantly with the severity of airflow limitation. On MRI, vulnerable lipid core plaques were significantly more frequent in subjects with COPD compared to the healthy participants.
The results shed light on the relationship between COPD and the increased risk of stroke seen in this patient population, said researcher Dr. Bruno Stricker, PhD, professor of pharmaco-epidemiology at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, in a statement about the study.
"Understanding the underlying risk factors for stroke in COPD patients can help identify those at high risk and lead to the development of more personalized preventive treatment strategies targeting this devastating complication," he said.
