Epicardial adipose tissue thickness, flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery, and carotid intima–media thickness: Associations in rheumatoid arthritis patients

• Published in: Herz 2015-05, Vol.40 (Suppl 3), p.217-224
• Main Authors: Temiz, A., Gökmen, F., Gazi, E., Akbal, A., Barutçu, A., Bekler, A., Altun, B., Tan, Y.Z., Güneş, F., Şen, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - diagnostic imaging; Adult; Aged; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - complications; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - diagnostic imaging; Brachial Artery - diagnostic imaging; Cardiology; Carotid Artery Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Carotid Artery Diseases - etiology; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; Echocardiography - methods; Female; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Pericardium - diagnostic imaging; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index
• ISSN: 0340-9937; 1615-6692
• DOI: 10.1007/s00059-014-4140-z

Aim The purpose of this work was to evaluate epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT), and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients using ultrasonographic methods. Interrelationships between these three parameters in RA patients were also investigated. Methods EAT thickness, CIMT, and FMD were measured by ultrasonography. We measured the disease activity score (DAS28), health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) score, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Spearman or Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the association between clinical findings, CIMT, FMD, and EAT. Results A total of 90 RA patients [19 men, mean age 54 years (range 21–76 years)] and 59 age- and gender-matched control subjects [17 men, mean age 54 years (range 26–80 years)] were included in the study. Patients with RA had a mean 4.34 DAS28 points (range 0–40 points) and the mean duration of the disease was 77.1 months (range 1–360 months). We found that RA patients had thicker EAT (7.7 ± 1.7 mm vs 6.2 ± 1.8 mm, p