3 research outputs found
Subclinical atherosclerosis in systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis: a comparative matched-cohort study
Systemic autoimmune inflammatory disorders confer a higher risk of
cardiovascular (CV) disease leading to increased morbidity and mortality
and reduced life expectancy compared to the general population. CV risk
in systemic sclerosis (SSc) has not been studied extensively but
surrogate markers of atherosclerosis namely carotid intima media
thickness (cIMT) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) are impaired in some but
not all studies in SSc patients. The aim of this study was to
investigate the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis assessed by
cIMT and PWV between two well-characterized SSc and Rheumatoid Arthritis
(RA) cohorts. Consecutive SSc patients attending the Scleroderma Clinic
were compared with RA patients recruited in the Dudley Rheumatoid
Arthritis Co-morbidity Cohort (DRACCO), a prospective study examining CV
burden in RA. Augmentation Index (Aix75) and cIMT were measured in all
participants. Propensity score matching was utilised to select patients
from the two cohorts with similar demographic characteristics, CV risk
factors and inflammatory load. Unpaired analysis was performed using
unpairedttest for continuous variables and chi(2)test for dichotomous
variables. Statistical analysis was repeated using pairedttest for
continuous normal variables and McNemar’s test for dichotomous
variables. Fifty five age- and sex-matched SSc and RA patients were
included in the analysis. No difference was demonstrated between SSc and
RA subjects regarding cIMT (0.66 mm vs 0.63 mm, respectively) and
Aix75% measurements (33.4 vs 31.7, respectively) neither in paired (p =
0.623 for cIMT andp = 0.204 for Aix%) nor in unpairedttest analysis (p
= 0.137 for cIMT andp = 0.397 for AIx%). The results of this
comparative study show that subclinical atherosclerosis is comparable
between SSc and RA, a systemic disease with well-defined high
atherosclerotic burden. Such findings underscore the importance of CV
risk management in SSc in parallel with other disease-related
manifestations