Prospective Evaluation of Hypertensive Patients with Carotid Kinking and Coiling: An Ultrasonographic 7-Year Study

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of vascular events during a 7-year follow- up evaluation in a group of 34 hypertensive patients with kinking of the internal carotid artery and 36 well-matched hypertensive control subjects. The carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured at three points of the carotid bifurcation and at three points of carotid kinking on the ultrasonographic posterior wall. The mean IMT measured in the segment of the angular bending was lower than the mean values detected at the bifurcation in normal subjects and in hypertensives without carotid elongation (p