Birth weight and carotid artery intima-media thickness

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the association between birth weight and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), a measure of atherogenesis, in a population of 11-year-old children.

Study design: CIMT measured by high-resolution ultrasound, and birth registry data were available for 670 children of the Southern California Children's Health Study. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between birth weight and CIMT, with adjustment for child's health status and lifestyle, pregnancy information, and parental health.

Results: Mean CIMT was 0.57 mm (SD 0.04). We found a nonlinear association between birth weight and CIMT, with an increase in CIMT of 0.014 mm in the fifth (P value .01) compared with the third birth weight quintile. These associations were robust in subsample analyses in children considered normal-weight by gestational age or in term-born children. No significant association with CIMT was found for the lowest quintile.

Conclusions: Greater birth weight was significantly associated with increased CIMT at age 11 years. No evidence for an impact of lower birth weight was found. The predictive value of childhood CIMT on future cardiovascular outcomes is largely unknown, but strong associations between childhood cardiovascular disease risk factors and adult vascular disease suggest that increased CIMT in childhood may be clinically important.