cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of death in the world . in iran , these diseases are ranked first as the leading cause of mortality . hypertension ( htn ) is the most common cause of visiting physicians and one of the most prevalent cardiac risk factors ; and if properly diagnosed and controlled , it is possible to prevent serious complications such as ischemic heart disease , heart failure , stroke , and renal failure . the arterial capacity in resistant artery is a decisive factor of arterial pressure . in hypertensive patients , functional , mechanical , and structural changes cause a decrease in the diameter of arteries . these changes increase systolic pressure , pulse pressure , and stiffness of arteries . in current studies , arterial stiffness is dealt with as an independent predisposing factor for cardiovascular accident ; there are different processes to assess systemic regional stiffness . ultrasonography is a cheap , easy , and noninvasive method through which intima - media thickness ( imt ) is measured . various studies have been conducted to measure imt in diabetics , obese patients , and patients with renal diseases and dyslipidemia . since racial , geographical , and cultural differences are decisive in both htn and imt , it was decided to carry out a comparative study of imt in htn and healthy individuals in birjand in 2010 . the present case  control study was conducted in birjand , imam reza hospital in 2010 . the cases were 43 primary hypertensive patients who had suffered the condition , at least , for 5 years . the patients were selected from those referred to the cardiology wards of vali - e - asr hospital . the controls were selected from patients referred to other clinics of the vali - e - asr hospital . the two groups ( i.e. , cases and controls ) were matched regarding age and sex . the subjects gave their consent by writing and entered the study , after being justified . the exclusion criteria included diabetes , renal disease , secondary htn , dyslipidemia , cardiac or cerebral disease , and cigarette smoking . the blood pressure ( bp ) of members of both groups was taken while they were in the sitting position , applying the right hand by means of a mercury sphygmomanometer . the bp of every one was consecutively taken twice , at an interval of 10 min in - between , and the average pressure obtained was recorded as bp . weight ( w ) and height ( h ) were measured using standard methods , and body mass index ( bmi ) was calculated on the basis of the following formula : bmi = weight ( kg)/height ( m ) . a research - designed checklist consisting of demographic information was filled out , for each subject , by the researcher . then , both group members were referred to a radiologist for the measurement of carotid imt ( caimt ) . an ultrasound linear probe with 8 mhz resolution ( medison tech company , south korea ) was used for measuring the caimt . finally , the obtained data were analyzed using the spss software , spss , inc , chicago , il , usa , at a significance level of  < 0.05 . in the present study , 43 primary htn patients whose conditions were under control and 43 healthy individuals , after being matched with respect to age and sex , were compared regarding caimt . table 1 presents the demographic information of the patients . as it is evident in the table , mean serum glucose and lipid in both groups were the same , but mean bmi of the case group was significantly higher than that of the control . the mean caimt in both groups is compared in table 2 . according to the table , the mean caimt in all carotid arteries in the case group was more than that of the controls . carotid intima - media thickness in two groups the mean caimt in htn , regarding length of having the disease , is shown in table 3 . it was found that there was no difference between the length of having htn and mean caimt in the hypertensive patients . htn is one of the serious risk factors of cardiac diseases and it causes the death of about 50% of patients with coronary artery diseases and heart failure , if untreated . increasing caimt is an independent risk factor and a measurable one in the diagnosis of subclinical atherosclerosis . in the present study , a comparative study of caimt in controlled primary htn and in healthy individuals however , the mean caimt is higher than that of women of the same age . this was why the patients were matched regarding age and sex in the current study . the present study found that mean caimt of all carotid arteries in htns was more than that of the controls . in tachiuchi 's study , 25 normotensives and 140 htns were assessed . the aim of the research was to study the relationship between cardiac flow reserves ( cfrs ) and caimt . results indicated that the cfr was significantly less in the htn and there was a reverse relationship between caimt and cfr , but the common cimt was a strong and independent parameter in the prognosis of cfr in htn . in his study , it was found that caimt in the patients was significantly higher than that of the controls and in both groups , there was an increase in age . the results of this study are similar to those of the present one . according to sasaki , , a compensatory mechanism prevents narrowing coincident with an increase in imt , which occurs during the early phase . although it is a compensatory mechanism , hemodynamic changes still occur in the walls of the arteries resulting in arterial disease . in his study , chironi compared imt in the right common carotid in 394 healthy individuals with that of 327 uncontrolled htn and 528 controlled htn . the results of the study showed that caimt in both patient groups , not accounting for any treatment , was higher than that of the healthy group . based on our study , the right and left common and internal carotid arteries in htn was significantly higher compared to healthy individuals . in andrew 's study on 6975 individuals aged 1990 years , it was found that the mean development of imt in the internal carotid was significantly higher in comparison with that of the common carotid and carotid bifurcation spot . this study proved that only the imt of the common internal carotid had a significant relationship with arterial risk factors such as age , sex , htn , diabetes , and smoking . in the study of liang et al . on 372 smokers and 307 hypertensive nonsmokers , the obtained data showed that both smoking and htn increased imt ; but htn , by itself , increased the imt / lumen ratio , while smoking had no effect on this ratio . on the basis of the present study , no relationship was observed between the length of htn and imt ; something that may be due to the fact that all our patients had , at least , a history of 5 years of htn . the main limitation of the study was the small number of samples , although patients were matched in regard to age , sex , and heart risk factors ; and at least , they had a hypertension history of 5 years behind . it is noteworthy that the present study was done in the cardiology ward of the vali - e - asr hospital . the second limitation was that the hypertension was in a more obese state , since obesity has a relationship with caimt ; if the two groups ( case and control ) had the same bmi , the situation would have been better . the last limitation of the present study was that medical treatment administered to hypertension was not taken into account . the main limitation of the study was the small number of samples , although patients were matched in regard to age , sex , and heart risk factors ; and at least , they had a hypertension history of 5 years behind . it is noteworthy that the present study was done in the cardiology ward of the vali - e - asr hospital . the second limitation was that the hypertension was in a more obese state , since obesity has a relationship with caimt ; if the two groups ( case and control ) had the same bmi , the situation would have been better . the last limitation of the present study was that medical treatment administered to hypertension was not taken into account .
background : hypertension ( htn ) , probably , is the most common public health problem among developed countries . 
 rapid diagnosis and effective treatment of htn have not truly stopped the rapid rate of mortality and morbidity caused by htn . 
 vascular wall changes are one of the most important and mortal complications of htn . ultrasonography was used for the evaluation of this vessel wall disorder by assessing the thickness of the intima and media layer.objective:the objective of this study was to compare the carotid intima media thickness ( cimt ) in hypertensive patients and the control group.methods:in a case  control study , 43 patients with documented primary htn and 43 healthy subjects were assessed as control . 
 their htn was controlled by the administration of drugs . 
 the mean age was 53.9 years . 
 the intima - media thickness ( imt ) of internal and common carotid and outer vessel diameter were assessed by one radiologist.results:caimt in all carotid arteries in the case group was more than that of the controls ( p < 0.05 ) . 
 it was found that there was no difference between the length of having htn and mean caimt in the hypertensive , except the right internal carotid ( p = 0.024).conclusion : the present study found that the mean caimt of all carotid arteries in htn was more than that of the controls . 
 moreover , the duration of the htn can accelerate the atherosclerosis process in hypertensive patients .