Until February 2011, 1,386 participants of the Rotterdam Study
had an interpretable spirometry test (Figure 1). Of them, 253
(18.3%) patients with COPD and 920 (66.4%) control subjects
underwent ultrasonography of both carotid arteries. Table 1
shows the baseline characteristics of the study population (n ¼
1,173) with median age 78 (IQR, 6). Subjects with COPD were
more often male and (current) smokers. A total of 694 out of 1,173
participants (59.2%) had carotid wall thickening (IMT >2.5 mm
in the left, right, or both carotid arteries) determined by ultrasonography
(Figure 1). A total of 216 subjects were not invited
for carotid MRI scanning because of contraindications for
MRI (n ¼ 17); dementia (n ¼ 3); physical immobility (n ¼ 19);