IMT and FIBROSCAN
liver stiffness, atherosclerosis, fibrosis
ATHEROSCLEROSIS, FIBROSIS
Patients were evaluated by the same ultrasonographist for both IMT and Fibroscan at baseline and then at W24 after randomization. Fibroscan is a quick, non-invasive technique used to measure liver stiffness (kPa), which correlates with fibrosis. To achieve a valid liver stiffness evaluation (LSE) the operator obtained all the following three criteria: (1) ≥ 10 successful liver stiffness measurements; (2) IQR/median ratio < 0.30 and (3) ≥ 60% measurement success rate through FibroScan ® 502 Touch (Vibration-Controlled Transient Elastography (VCTE™), Echosens). The carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is a widely used surrogate marker for atherosclerosis worldwide, and can be simply, noninvasively, and reproducibly measured through B-mode carotid ultrasound. A high-resolution B-mode system, equipped with a linear array transducer > 7 MHz with minimal compression (< 10:1) and footprint of at least 3 cm (Esaote MyLab™ 25 Gold) was applied to measure IMT in triplicate, sampling at ± 1 cm from carotid bulb bifurcation. The average value of 3 intima-media measures (in mm) was retained.