Elshereef Rawhya R, Darwish Aymen, Ali Amal, Abdel-Kadar Mohammed, Hamdy Lamiaa
Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Minia University, P.O. Box 61519, Minia 61111, Egypt.
Cardiology Department, Minia University, P.O. Box 61519, Minia 61111, Egypt.
Int J Rheumatol. 2015;2015:381931. doi: 10.1155/2015/381931. Epub 2015 Feb 8.
Aim. To detect the frequency of subclinical atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis patients without clinically evident atherosclerosis and to correlate its presence with the disease activity. Patients and Methods. Our study includes 112 RA patients (group 1) and 40 healthy controls (group 11). All patients and controls were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations. Carotid intima media wall thickness (IMT) and carotid plaques were measured in both groups by B-mode ultrasonography; also color duplex Doppler ultrasound of the brachial artery was done to detect endothelial function. Results. There is atherosclerosis in 31.3% of asymptomatic RA patients compared with only 5% in controls (P = 0.003()). A significant difference was detected in patients with and without atherosclerosis regarding duration of the disease (P = 0.0001()) and patient's age (P = 0.01()). There is highly statistical significant correlation between atherosclerosis and disease activity index. Conclusion. The frequency of subclinical atherosclerosis was high in long-term active RA patients.
目的。检测无临床明显动脉粥样硬化的类风湿关节炎患者亚临床动脉粥样硬化的发生率，并将其存在情况与疾病活动度相关联。患者与方法。我们的研究纳入了112例类风湿关节炎患者（第1组）和40例健康对照者（第2组）。所有患者和对照者均进行了全面的病史采集、临床检查和实验室检查。两组均通过B型超声测量颈动脉内膜中层厚度（IMT）和颈动脉斑块；还进行了肱动脉彩色双功多普勒超声检查以检测内皮功能。结果。31.3%的无症状类风湿关节炎患者存在动脉粥样硬化，而对照组仅为5%（P = 0.003（））。在有和没有动脉粥样硬化的患者之间，在疾病持续时间（P = 0.0001（））和患者年龄（P = 0.01（））方面检测到显著差异。动脉粥样硬化与疾病活动指数之间存在高度统计学显著相关性。结论。长期活动的类风湿关节炎患者亚临床动脉粥样硬化的发生率较高。
