Table 4.

Overview of studies on the relationship between CIMT, carotid plaque, and MACCE in primary and secondary cardiovascular risk prevention individuals.

Study	CIMT Measure	Interpretation	Participants Number, Type	Follow-Up (Years)	Outcome	HR (95% CI)
Primary Cardiovascular Risk Prevention
CIMT studies CAPS [12]	Mean-CCA	4th vs. 1st quartile 4th vs. 1st quartile 4th vs. 1st quartile	5052, PC 5052, PC 5052, PC	4.2 4.2 4.2	MI IS CV death	2.3 (0.9–6.3) 2.3 (1.4–3.8) 3.2 (2.0–5.1)
CHS [13]	Max-CCA	5th vs. 1st quartile 5th vs. 1st quartile 4th vs. 1st quartile	4476, PC 4476, PC 5555, PC	6.2 6.2 13.1	MI IS SCD	3.2 (2.0–5.1) 2.8 (1.8–4.2) 1.75(1.25–2.51)
MDCS [15]	Mean-CCA	3rd vs. 1st tertile 3rd vs. 1st tertile	5163, PC 5163, PC	7.0 7.0	MI IS	2.1 (1.2–3.4) 3.0 (1.6–5.7)
KIDH [16]	Max-CCA	≥1 mm vs. < 1.0 mm	1275, PC	1.0	MI	2.2 (0.7–6.7)
Rotterdam [17]	Mean-CCA	Per 0.16 mm, 1SD Per 0.16 mm, 1SD	1566, PC 1566, PC	2.7 2.7	MI IS	1.4 (1.2–1.8) 1.4 (1.3–1.8)
LILAC [104]	Mean-CCA, CB, ICA	Per 0.3 mm	298, PC	3.1	CV death	2.9 (1.0–6.8)
Carotid plaque studies CHS [105]	Plaque presence	Plaque vs. no plaque	5555, PC	13.1	SCD	1.32 (1.04–1.67)
ARIC [18,19]	Mean-CCA- CB-ICA+plaque	>1 mm > 1 mm > 1 mm > 1 mm	10841, PC 10841, PC 14214, PC 14214, PC	5.2 5.2 7.2 7.2	MI MI IS IS	M: 1.8 (1.3–2.7) F: 5.1 (3.1–8.4) M: 2.0 (1.2–3.1) F: 3.3 (1.9–5.8)
ARIC [105]	Plaque (>1.5 mm) Mean-CCA-CB-ICA+plaque	Plaque vs. no plaque 4th vs. 1st quartile	15307, PC 15307, PC	23.5 23.5	SCD SCD	1.37 (1.13–1.67) 1.64 (1.15–2.63)
Ali J.S. et al. [107]	Mean-CCA- CB-ICA+plaque	4th vs. 1st quartile	706, PC	4.78	MI, IS, TIA, revascularization	5.8 (1.3–26.60)
TROMSO [107,108]	Plaque area	4th quartile of plaque area vs. no plaque	3240 M, PC 3344 F, PC 2989 M, PC 3237 F, PC	10 10 5.4 5.4	IS IS MI MI	1.73 (1.19–2.52) 1.62 (1.04–2.53) 1.56 (1.04–2.36) 3.95 (2.16–7.19)
Manhattan Study [110]	Max. plaque thickness	Plaque > 1.9 mm vs. no plaque	2189, PC	6.9	MI, IS, CV death	2.80 (2.04–3.84)
Biolmage Study [111]	3D Plaque max thickness	3rd tertile vs. no plaque	5808, PC	2.7	MI, IS, CV death	2.36 (1.13–4.92)
Xie et al. [112]	Sum of segments with plaque	≥ 3 segments with plaque(s)	3258, PC	5	CHD, IS	2.43 (1.20–4.93)
Stork et al. [113]	Sum of all plaques areas	By number of plaques: < 2; 2 to 4; > 4	403, PC	4	CV death	1.85 (1.14–3.01)
ARCO study [109]	Total plaque area	3rd tertile of plaque area vs. no plaque	2842, PC	5.9	MI, IS, CV death	21.4 (2.8–163)
MESA study [114]	Total plaque score	Plaque score per 1 SD	6814, PC	11.3	CV disease CHD IS	1.27 (1.16–1.40) 1.35 (1.21–1.51) 1.15 (0.98–1.35)
Yang, C.W.; et al. [120]	Mean-max CIMT-CCA, CB, ICA plus plaque	CIMT/plaque >2 mm vs. <1 mm CIMT >1 mm vs. <1 mm	2956, PC 2956, PC	9.41 9.41	All-cause death All-cause death	1.79 (1.07–3.00) 1.65 (1.21–2.32)
Secondary cardiovascular risk prevention
CIMT studies
Yoon et al. [23]	mean CCA	mean	479, AIS	9	MI, IS, CLI, CV death	2.21 (0.80–6.09)
Tada et al. [122]	mean-max CCA	mean	2035, ASCVD	4	All-cause death CV death, MI, stroke, HF, revascularization	0.89 (0.52–1.49)
Carotid plaque studies
Kolkenbeck-Ruh et al. [22]	Plaque thickness	CIMT plus plaque	473, CLI or IS479, controls	n/a	IS vs. controls CLI vs. controls	<60 years, HR 20.8 to 28.4 (7.24–111) >50 years, HR 5.61 to 8.85 (1.77–25.4)
Kabłak-Ziembicka et al. [4]	Mean-max CIMT-CCA, CB, ICA plus maximum plaque thickness	Mean CIMT/plaque ≥ 1.25 mm (3,4 vs. 1,2 quartile)	652, Confirmed CHD 125, PC	5	MI, IS, CLI, CV death	2.52 (1.50–4.24)
Yoon et al. [23]	Plaque presence (Mannheim definition)	Any vs. no plaque	479, AIS	9	MI, IS, CLI, CV death	1.70 (1.14–2.53)
Tada et al. [122]	Carotid plaque score	top quintile vs. bottom quintile	2035, ASCVD	4	All-cause death, CV death, MI, IS, HF, revascularization	3.38 (1.82–6.27)

AIS, acute ischemic stroke; ASCVD, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; CLI, critical limb ischemia; CV, cardiovascular; F, female gender; HF, heart failure; IS, ischemic stroke; M, male gender; MI, myocardial infarction; PC, primary care subjects; SCD, sudden cardiac death; SSSS, symptomatic subclavian steal syndrome.