Smoking effects on cyclic variation of harmonic echogenicity in carotid artery.

The dynamic changes of echogenicity in common carotid artery was observed from coded harmonic images by GE ultrasound systems. The observed variation in echogenicity was related with the dynamic change of red blood cell (RBC) aggregation during a cardiac cycle. In this research, the cyclic variation in echogenicity (CVE) was observed in the harmonic images of the carotid artery from 28 smokers before and after smoking using a GE Voluson e ultrasound system. The amplitude of CVE (A_cve) was significantly increased after smoking in the heavy smokers compared with the one in light smokers (4.98±4.26 vs −0.3±3.01, P<0.05). A_cve was also compared among 17 nonsmokers, 11 light smokers, and 17 heavy smokers. The effects of tissue attenuation on A_cve were compensated with body mass index (BMI). Compensated A_cve is significantly higher in heavy smokers and light smokers compared with that in nonsmokers (36.7±9.5 and 35.1±5.1 vs 29.3±7.9, P<0.05). The effects of smoking on CVE were discussed with hemodynamic and hematological changes caused by smoking. The increased RBC aggregation due to the flow acceleration and hematological changes were suggested as interpretations. It demonstrated the potential of A_cve to estimate RBC aggregation in vivo. [Work supported by Grant No. NRF‐2010‐0014004.]