The intima-media thickness (IMT) of carotid arteries, measured by high resolution B-mode ultrasound has been proposed as an useful surrogate marker of atherosclerosis in carotid arteries and in other vascular regions. IMT is a good predictor of new myocardial infarction and it has been shown to be influenced by drugs known to reduce cardiovascular events. In a longitudinal - observational study, we have shown that the integrated use of VRFs included into the Framingham risk score and ultrasonic measurements of carotid IMT significantly increase their capacity to predict cardiovascular events in patients at low/intermediate risk. The integration of carotid IMT with non conventional VRFs (gene polymorphisms. oxidative burden, psyco or socioeconomic aspects etc. ) may further optimize the stratification of patient risk. Another important carotid ultrasonic variable that may have predictive capacity, alone or when integrated with conventional or non conventional risk factors, is the progression of carotid IMT. A prospective, multicenter, longitudinal, long-term, observational study (The IMPROVE study) is currently ongoing. It aims to investigate the capacity of both cross sectional carotid IMT and overall IMT-progression to predict alone, or after integration with both conventional and non conventional VRF, the rate of new vascular events in an European population classified at high risk of cardiovascular disease for the presence of at least 3 VRFs. The patients' enrolment ended in April 2005 and a total of 3711 patients were recruited in 5 European countries (1095 in ltaly, 504 in France and 2140 in northern Europe). Funding: Supported by European Union (IMPROVE: QLGI-CT-2002- 00896)
Funding for this study was provided by the Aase and Ejner Danielsens Foundation; Academy of Finland (41071, 77299, 102318, 110413, 117787, 121584, 123885, 124243, 124282, 126925, 129378, 134309, 286284); Accare Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Action on Hearing Loss (G51); Agence Nationale de la 359 Recherche; Agency for Health Care Policy Research (HS06516); ALF/LUA research grant in Gothenburg; ALFEDIAM; ALK-Abello´ A/S; Althingi; American Heart Association (13POST16500011); Amgen; Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies; Ardix Medical; Arthritis Research UK; Association Diabe`te Risque Vasculaire; Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (241944, 339462, 389875, 389891, 389892, 389927, 389938, 442915, 442981, 496739, 552485, 552498); Avera Institute; Bayer Diagnostics; Becton Dickinson; BHF (RG/14/5/30893); Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center (DK46200), Bristol-Myers Squibb; British Heart Foundation (RG/10/12/ 28456, RG2008/08, RG2008/014, SP/04/002); Medical Research Council of Canada; Canadian Institutes for Health Research (FRCN-CCT-83028); Cancer Research UK; Cardionics; Cavadis B.V., Center for Medical Systems Biology; Center of Excellence in Genomics; CFI; CIHR; City of Kuopio; CNAMTS; Cohortes Sante´ TGIR; Contrat de Projets E´tat-Re´gion; Croatian Science Foundation (8875); Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation; Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF-1333- 00124, DFF-1331-00730B); County Council of Dalarna; Dalarna University; Danish Council for Strategic Research; Danish Diabetes Academy; Danish Medical Research Council; Department of Health, UK; Development Fund from the University of Tartu (SP1GVARENG); Diabetes Hilfs- und Forschungsfonds Deutschland; Diabetes UK; Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation Fellowship; Donald W. Reynolds Foundation; Dr Robert Pfleger-Stiftung; Dutch Brain Foundation; Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation; Dutch Inter University Cardiology Institute; Dutch Kidney Foundation (E033); Dutch Ministry of Justice; the DynaHEALTH action No. 633595, Economic Structure Enhancing Fund of the Dutch Government; Else Kro¨ner-Fresenius-Stiftung (2012_A147, P48/08//A11/08); Emil Aaltonen Foundation; Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam; Erasmus MC and Erasmus University Rotterdam; the Municipality of Rotterdam; Estonian Government (IUT20-60, IUT24-6); Estonian Research Roadmap through the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (3.2.0304.11-0312); European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant and 323195:SZ-245 50371-GLUCOSEGENESFP7-IDEAS-ERC); European Regional Development Fund; European Science Foundation (EU/QLRT-2001-01254); European Commission (018947, 018996, 201668, 223004, 230374, 279143, 284167, 305739, BBMRI-LPC-313010, HEALTH-2011.2.4.2-2-EUMASCARA, HEALTH-2011-278913, HEALTH-2011-294713-EPLORE, HEALTH-F2- 2008-201865-GEFOS, HEALTH-F2-2013-601456, HEALTH-F4-2007-201413, HEALTH-F4-2007-201550-HYPERGENES, HEALTH-F7-305507 HOMAGE, IMI/ 115006, LSHG-CT-2006-018947, LSHG-CT-2006-01947, LSHM-CT-2004-005272, LSHM-CT-2006-037697, LSHM-CT-2007-037273, QLG1-CT-2002-00896, QLG2-CT2002-01254); Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne; Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01ZZ0103, 01ZZ0403, 01ZZ9603, 03IS2061A, 03ZIK012); Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania; Fe´de´ration Franc¸aise de Cardiologie; Finnish Cultural Foundation; Finnish Diabetes Association; Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Heart Association; Fondation Leducq; Food Standards Agency; Foundation for Strategic Research; French Ministry of Research; FRSQ; Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) of the Foundation for the NIH; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 01ER1206, 01ER1507); GlaxoSmithKline; Greek General Secretary of Research and Technology; Go¨teborg Medical Society; Health and Safety Executive; Healthcare NHS Trust; Healthway; Western Australia; Heart Foundation of Northern Sweden; Helmholtz Zentrum Mu¨nchen—German Research Center for Environmental Health; Hjartavernd; Ingrid Thurings Foundation; INSERM; InterOmics (PB05 MIUR-CNR); INTERREG IV Oberrhein Program (A28); Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands (ICIN, 09.001); Italian Ministry of Health (ICS110.1/RF97.71); Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (FaReBio di Qualita`); Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation; the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, the Netherlands; J.D.E. and Catherine T, MacArthur Foundation Research Networks on Successful Midlife Development and Socioeconomic Status and Health; Juho Vainio Foundation; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International; KfH Stiftung Pra¨ventivmedizin e.V.; King's College London; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Kuopio University Hospital; Kuopio, Tampere and Turku University Hospital Medical Funds (X51001); La Fondation de France; Leenaards Foundation; Lilly; LMUinnovativ; Lundberg Foundation; Magnus Bergvall Foundation; MDEIE; Medical Research Council UK (G0000934, G0601966, G0700931, MC_U106179471, MC_UU_12019/1); MEKOS Laboratories; Merck Sante´; Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports, The Netherlands; Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania; Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands; Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland (627;2004-2011); Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, The Netherlands; Ministry of Science, Education and Sport in the Republic of Croatia (108-1080315-0302); MRC centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology; MRC Human Genetics Unit; MRC-GlaxoSmithKline pilot programme (G0701863); MSD Stipend Diabetes; National Institute for Health Research; Netherlands Brain Foundation (F2013(1)-28); Netherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative (CVON2011-19); Netherlands Genomics Initiative (050-060-810); Netherlands Heart Foundation (2001 D 032, NHS2010B280); Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) (56-464- 14192, 60-60600-97-118, 100-001-004, 261-98-710, 400-05-717, 480-04-004, 480-05-003, 481-08-013, 904-61-090, 904-61-193, 911-11-025, 985-10-002, Addiction-31160008, BBMRI–NL 184.021.007, GB-MaGW 452-04-314, GB-MaGW 452-06-004, GB-MaGW 480-01-006, GB-MaGW 480-07-001, GB-MW 940-38-011, Middelgroot-911-09-032, NBIC/BioAssist/RK 2008.024, Spinozapremie 175.010.2003.005, 175.010.2007.006); NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | DOI:10.1038/ncomms14977 ARTICLE NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | 8:14977 | DOI:10.1038/ncomms14977 | www.nature.com/naturecommunications 13 Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam; NHS Foundation Trust; National Institutes of Health (1RC2MH089951, 1Z01HG000024, 24152, 263MD9164, 263MD821336, 2R01LM010098, 32100-2, 32122, 32108, 5K99HL130580-02, AA07535, AA10248, AA11998, AA13320, AA13321, AA13326, AA14041, AA17688, AG13196, CA047988, DA12854, DK56350, DK063491, DK078150, DK091718, DK100383, DK078616, ES10126, HG004790, HHSN268200625226C, HHSN268200800007C, HHSN268201200036C, HHSN268201500001I, HHSN268201100046C, HHSN268201100001C, HHSN268201100002C, HHSN268201100003C, HHSN268201100004C, HHSN271201100004C, HL043851, HL45670, HL080467, HL085144, HL087660, HL054457, HL119443, HL118305, HL071981, HL034594, HL126024, HL130114, KL2TR001109, MH66206, MH081802, N01AG12100, N01HC55015, N01HC55016, N01C55018, N01HC55019, N01HC55020, N01HC55021, N01HC55022, N01HC85079, N01HC85080, N01HC85081, N01HC85082, N01HC85083, N01HC85086, N01HC95159, N01HC95160, N01HC95161, N01HC95162, N01HC95163, N01HC95164, N01HC95165, N01HC95166, N01HC95167, N01HC95168, N01HC95169, N01HG65403, N01WH22110, N02HL6-4278, N01-HC-25195, P01CA33619, R01HD057194, R01HD057194, R01AG023629, R01CA63, R01D004215701A, R01DK075787, R01DK062370, R01DK072193, R01DK075787, R01DK089256, R01HL53353, R01HL59367, R01HL086694, R01HL087641, R01HL087652, R01HL103612, R01HL105756, R01HL117078, R01HL120393, R03 AG046389, R37CA54281, RC2AG036495, RC4AG039029, RPPG040710371, RR20649, TW008288, TW05596, U01AG009740, U01CA98758, U01CA136792, U01DK062418, U01HG004402, U01HG004802, U01HG007376, U01HL080295, UL1RR025005, UL1TR000040, UL1TR000124, UL1TR001079, 2T32HL007055-36, T32GM074905, HG002651, HL084729, N01-HC25195, UM1CA182913); NIH, National Institute on Aging (Intramural funding, NO1-AG-1-2109); Northern Netherlands Collaboration of Provinces; Novartis Pharma; Novo Nordisk; Novo Nordisk Foundation; Nutricia Research Foundation (2016-T1); ONIVINS; Parnassia Bavo group; Pierre Fabre; Province of Groningen; Pa¨ivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation; Påhlssons Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Radboud Medical Center Nijmegen; Research Centre for Prevention and Health, the Capital Region of Denmark; the Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly; Research into Ageing; Robert Dawson Evans Endowment of the Department of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center; Roche; Royal Society; Russian Foundation for Basic Research (NWO-RFBR 047.017.043); Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (NIMH U24 MH068457-06); Sanofi-Aventis; Scottish Government Health Directorates, Chief Scientist Office (CZD/16/6); Siemens Healthcare; Social Insurance Institution of Finland (4/26/2010); Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania; Socie´te´ Francophone du 358 Diabe`te; State of Bavaria; Stiftelsen fo¨r Gamla Tja¨narinnor; Stockholm County Council (560183, 592229); Strategic Cardiovascular and Diabetes Programmes of Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council; Stroke Association; Swedish Diabetes Association; Swedish Diabetes Foundation (2013-024); Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation (20120197, 20150711); Swedish Research Council (0593, 8691, 2012-1397, 2012-1727, and 2012-2215); Swedish Society for Medical Research; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; Swiss National Science Foundation (3100AO-116323/1, 31003A-143914, 33CSCO-122661, 33CS30-139468, 33CS30-148401, 51RTP0_151019); Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation; Technology Foundation STW (11679); The Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen, Ministry of the Flemish Community (G.0880.13, G.0881.13); The Great Wine Estates of the Margaret River Region of Western Australia; Timber Merchant Vilhelm Bangs Foundation; Topcon; Tore Nilsson Foundation; Torsten and Ragnar So¨derberg's Foundation; United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation (Grant 2011036), Umeå University; University Hospital of Regensburg; University of Groningen; University Medical Center Groningen; University of Michigan; University of Utrecht; Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science (UPPMAX) (b2011036); Velux Foundation; VU University's Institute for Health and Care Research; Va¨stra Go¨taland Foundation; Wellcome Trust (068545, 076113, 079895, 084723, 088869, WT064890, WT086596, WT098017, WT090532, WT098051, 098381); Wissenschaftsoffensive TMO; Yrjo¨ Jahnsson Foundation; and Åke Wiberg Foundation