Department of Ultrasound, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China.
Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China.
Echocardiography. 2022 Apr;39(4):552-560. doi: 10.1111/echo.15325. Epub 2022 Feb 24.
Ultrafast pulse wave velocity (UFPWV) is an innovative and practical technology that can assess blood vessel elastic function. This study explored the elastic function of the carotid artery using UFPWV and factors influencing pulse wave velocity (PWV) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Overall, 120 patients with RA and 60 healthy controls were evaluated. Participants underwent UFPWV and carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT) assessment. The patients were classified into a mild activity group (group A) and a moderate-to-severe activity group (group B). Differences in clinical indicators among the groups were determined, and the correlation between each indicator and PWV values was analyzed.
The PWV values were higher in group B than in group A and were higher in group A than in the control group (p < .05). The PWV values in the patient group positively correlated with anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody, disease course, age, platelets (PLT) count, rheumatoid factor (RF), body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (TC) level, and triglycerides (TG) level and were negatively correlated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25[OH]D3) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels (p < .05). In addition, anti-CCP antibody, age, RF, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were risk factors for arteriosclerosis, whereas Hb and 25(OH)D3 were protective factors (p < .05).
UFPWV allows early and accurate detection of changes in arterial elasticity and enables early intervention to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with RA.
超快速脉搏波速度（UFPWV）是一种创新性且实用的技术，可用于评估血管弹性功能。本研究旨在利用 UFPWV 评估类风湿关节炎（RA）患者的颈动脉弹性功能，并探讨影响脉搏波速度（PWV）的因素。
共纳入 120 例 RA 患者和 60 名健康对照者。所有参与者均接受 UFPWV 和颈动脉内膜中层厚度（cIMT）评估。根据疾病活动度将患者分为轻度活动组（A 组）和中重度活动组（B 组），比较各组间临床指标的差异，并分析各指标与 PWV 值的相关性。
B 组的 PWV 值高于 A 组，A 组的 PWV 值高于对照组（p<0.05）。患者组的 PWV 值与抗环瓜氨酸肽（anti-CCP）抗体、病程、年龄、血小板（PLT）计数、类风湿因子（RF）、体质量指数（BMI）、总胆固醇（TC）水平、三酰甘油（TG）水平呈正相关，与 25-羟维生素 D3（25[OH]D3）和血红蛋白（Hb）水平呈负相关（p<0.05）。此外，抗 CCP 抗体、年龄、RF 和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇是动脉粥样硬化的危险因素，而 Hb 和 25（OH）D3 是保护因素（p<0.05）。
UFPWV 可早期、准确地检测动脉弹性变化，有助于早期干预，降低 RA 患者心血管事件的发生率。
