| normal (198) | Grade I (166) | Class II (86) | Level III (66) | P-value |
Age (years) | 48.9 ± 13.6 | 53.3 ± 14.5 | 61.8 ± 20.6 | 62.2 ± 19.2 | <0.001 |
Male [number of cases (%)] | 96 (48.5) | 83 (50.0) | 44 (51.2) | 34 (51.5) | 0.996 |
Diabetes [cases (%)] | 8 (4.0) | 10 (6.6) | 13 (15.1) | 12 (18.2) | <0.001 |
Hypertension [cases (%)] | 17 (8.6) | 26 (15.7) | 35 (40.7) | 35 (53.0) | <0.001 |
Coronary heart disease [number of cases (%)] | 3 (1.5) | 3 (1.8) | 3 (3.5) | 2 (3.0) | 0.958 |
Hyperlipidemia [% of cases] | 76 (38.4) | 82 (49.4) | 53 (61.6) | 44 (66.7) | <0.001 |
Bilateral common carotid artery IMT and (mm) | 1.28 ± 0.33 | 1.46 ± 0.36 | 1.98 ± 0.38 | 2.01 ± 0.37 | <0.001 |
Carotid artery plaques [% of cases] | 40 (20.2) | 65 (39.2) | 51 (59.3) | 45 (68.2) | <0.001 |
Vulnerable plaques [% of cases] | 10 (5.1) | 11 (6.6) | 19 (22.1) | 18 (27.3) | <0.001 |
Carotid artery plaque score (points) | 1.77 ± 0.54 | 2.11 ± 0.62 | 3.98 ± 0.72 | 4.02 ± 0.81 | <0.001 |
Carotid artery stenosis [% of cases] | 4 (2.0) | 6 (3.6) | 12 (13.9) | 11 (16.7) | <0.001 |