Abstract. 

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an independent risk factor for fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD). Today, accordingto the World Health Organization data, about 422 million people in the worldwide suffer from diabetes, which is 8.8% of the world’s population. It is established that CVD are the leading cause of death in patients with DM. It is also worrying that in diabetes, vascular damage is quite common. The reason for this is the pathogeneti­cally justified rapid progression of atherosclerotic vascular lesions, which may progress asymptomatically for decades until the onset of adverse cardiovascular events. It should be born in mind that against the background of DM, changes in the vascular wall in the form of atherosclerotic lesions are more progressive course than in patients without DM. All this indicates the need for early diagno­sis of changes in the vascular wall in patients with DM. This is con­firmed by the results of a number of clinical studies in which it is recommended to consider ultrasound diagnosis of blood vessels, namely the carotid arteries, as a screening method of «first line» for atherosclerotic lesions, especially in patients with DM. This method is not only non-invasive, safe, painless, fast and inexpensive, but also reliable. Vascular ultrasound makes it possible in the early stages to detect initial and already existing atherosclerotic changes of the vascular wall in asymptomatic patients, to monitor the effective­ness of treatment and further progression of the disease. The article presents the methodology for determining and clinical significance of early markers of atherosclerosis — the thickness of the intima-media complex and the presence of atherosclerotic plaques — us­ing vascular ultrasound. Thus, the use of ultrasound diagnostics of the carotid arteries, as a method of choice in patients with DM, will make it possible to timely determine the risk of developing CVD and their complications.

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