Arterial stiffness and peripheral arterial disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

• Published in: Rheumatology international 2017-02, Vol.37 (2), p.293-298
• Main Authors: Tziomalos, Konstantinos, Gkougkourelas, Ioannis, Sarantopoulos, Alexandros, Bekiari, Eleni, Makri, Evangelia, Raptis, Nikolaos, Tselios, Konstantinos, Pantoura, Marianna, Hatzitolios, Apostolos I., Boura, Panagiota
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Ankle Brachial Index; Blood Flow Velocity - physiology; Blood Pressure - physiology; Female; Humans; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - complications; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - physiopathology; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Observational Research; Peripheral Arterial Disease - complications; Peripheral Arterial Disease - physiopathology; Pulse Wave Analysis; Rheumatology; Vascular Stiffness - physiology
• ISSN: 0172-8172; 1437-160X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00296-016-3610-4

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We aimed to evaluate arterial stiffness and the ankle brachial index (ABI), two markers of subclinical cardiovascular disease, in SLE. We studied 55 patients with SLE (12.7% males, age 53.3 ± 15.3 years) and 61 age- and gender-matched controls. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by measuring pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index (AIx) and central systolic, diastolic, pulse and mean blood pressure (BP). Peripheral arterial disease was defined as ABI ≤ 0.90. Regarding markers of arterial stiffness, patients with SLE had lower PWV and AIx than controls ( p