الفهرس 
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Abstract
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure contributes to the worldwide burden of disease, not only in adults but also in children. Previous studies have shown that ETS can be associated with increased CIMT, which is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis.
In this study, we aimed to evaluate CIMT and measure serum hs-CRP in exposed and non-exposed children to passive smoking, and their correlation to different clinical and laboratory parameters.
The present study was conducted on 75 second-hand smoke children aged from 3 -12 years at the pediatric outpatient clinic of Minia University Hospital and 75 children not exposed to passive smoking as a control group, age and sex matched to the previous group.
The studied groups were subjected to thorough history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations including hs-CRP and complete blood count and radiological investigation including neck ultrasonography to measure CIMT.
The results could be summarized as follow:
• Our study reveals insignificant differences of BMI between exposed and non-exposed children, while there was higher BMI in children of heavy smoker parent group than non-smoker parent and light smoker parent groups. Also, BMI had significant positive correlation with PSI but had insignificant correlation with duration of children exposure to passive smoking.
• Our study revealed no difference as regarding blood pressure between the two studied groups. On the other hand, correlation of PSI with DBP and SBP was significantly positive and correlation according to duration of children exposure to passive smoking showed significant positive correlation only with DBP.
• Our study revealed that the exposed children had higher significant hs-CRP than the non-exposed children. Also, hs-CRP was significantly higher in light smoker parent, moderate smoker parent and heavy smoker parent groups than non-smoker parent group. But it’s correlation with PSI and duration of exposure to passive smoking was negative and insignificant.
• Our study revealed that the CBC parameters were of statistical insignificance. While, the correlation of duration of exposure to passive smoking was significant positive with hemoglobin, MCH and MCHC.
• Our study reveals statistical insignificance of CIMT between the two studied groups. On the other hand, CIMT was significantly higher in heavy smoker parent group than non-smoker parent and light smoker parent groups and had significant positive correlation with PSI and duration of children exposure to passive smoking.
Conclusion
Passive smoking is a known major cardiovascular risk factor. The current study found alterations of serum hs-CRP levels in children exposed to passive smoking, which reflects ongoing inflammatory process, as constituents of SHS cause a systemic inflammatory response. In addition, there were differences between exposed and non-exposed children as regarding the measurement of CIMT, in a dose dependent manner, which may suggest that increased CIMT in children can be a suitable risk marker for the development of premature coronary artery disease.