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Current Trends in Cardiology | Volume: 03
10
th
WORLD HEART CONGRESS
&
6
th
International Congress on
CARDIOLOGY AND CARDIAC SURGERY
December 02-03, Dubai, UAE
Joint event on
Curr Trend Cardiol, Volume: 03
Assessment of vascular stiffness and relation to cardiovascular risk factors in patients
with SLE
Moataz Taha
Cairo university, Egypt
Statement of the Problem
: Cardiovascular disease is a
major cause of morbidity and mortality in SLE patients.
Accurate risk stratification would require a simple, non-
invasive index integrating all traditional and emerging
risk factors. Vascular stiffness fulfills these requirements
and has better predictive value for cardiovascular events
than traditional risk factors in hypertensives and patients
with coronary artery disease. Our aim was to determine
whether arterial stiffness is increased in SLE patients
compared to healthy controls.
ClinicalPractice
:PatientswererecruitedfromRheumatology
department of Cairo University while the study done in
Cardiology department. This study included 100 subjects
divided into 50 SLE patients and 50 age- and gender-
matched healthy individuals. All individuals underwent
standard clinical evaluation. Assessment of aortic stiffness
was performed by calculation of aortic elastic indices using
M-mode transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Endothelial
function was assessed using brachial flow mediated dilation
(FMD). Carotid duplex ultrasound was performed to
measure quality arterial stiffness (QAS) parameters using
Esaote MyLab 60. We calculated carotid-femoral pulse wave
velocity (cf-PWV) as the carotid-femoral travel distance
divided by the transit time (ΔL/Δt).
Results
: SLE patients had higher median aortic stiffness
index (SI) and lower strain and distensibility, compared
to controls. SLE patients had significantly impaired FMD
compared to controls. Regarding QAS parameters, SLE
patients had significantly lower median carotid distension,
distensibility coefficient, and compliance coefficient, with
higher median carotid SI, carotid pulse wave velocity
(PWV), and augmentation index (AI). SLE patients had a
higher median cf-PWV 6.5 m/sec (4.8 – 11.8), compared to
a median of 4.6 m/sec (3.8 – 6.9) in controls.
Conclusion & Significance
: SLE patients have significantly
impaired FMD and increased arterial stiffness compared to
healthy controls. SLE is an independent cardiovascular risk
factor. SLE duration is an important predictor of arterial
stiffness. These findings emphasize the need for early
diagnosis of SLE and aggressive risk factors modification.
e:
mo3tzsalam@gmail.com