The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) is a study of the correlates, predictors, and progression of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) (disease detected non-invasively before it has produced clinical signs and symptoms) in a diverse population-based sample of men and women aged 45-84 who had no evidence of clinical CVD at baseline. Six thousand eight hundred fourteen thousand (6,814) participants were recruited from six Field Centers during 2000-2002 and examined for evidence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, using computed tomography, cardiac MRI, carotid ultrasound, flow-mediated brachial artery dilation, radial artery tonometry, ankle-brachial index measurement, and retinal photography and, in subsets, abdominal aortic CT, carotid MRI, cardiac MRI tagging for measures of regional myocardial function; established and putative laboratory risk markers; socioeconomic, psychological, behavioral, and environmental characteristics; and genetic factors. Examinations of selected components were repeated over three subsequent examinations through 2007. The cohort has been followed for clinical CVD events since baseline.
