OBJECTIVES: We had the impression and preliminary evidence that atherosclerosis was not much increased in Behçet's syndrome (BS). Thus, we evaluated the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in a sizeable group of patients with BS both with major organ involvement and mucocutaneous disease along with diseased and healthy controls. METHODS: We studied 239 (162 M/ 77 F; mean age: 40.7+/-7.0) patients with BS. Seventy-two (32 M/ 40 F) had only mucocutaneous and/or joint disease and 167 (130 M/ 37 F) had major organ involvement. Also 100 (24 M/ 76 F; mean age: 44.7+/-7.1) patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 74 (58 M/ 16 F; mean age: 39.4+/-7.0) patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 156 (83 M/ 73 F; mean age: 39.2+/-6.6) healthy controls (HC) were studied as the control groups. We used B-mode USG to assess the frequency of plaques and intima-media thickness (IMT) in the carotid and femoral arteries. Traditional atherosclerotic risk factors were also evaluated. Men and women were analyzed separately. RESULTS: The frequency of plaques and the mean IMT in the carotid and femoral arteries were similar between patients with BS, AS and HC and also between the 2 subgroups of BS, among both men and women. Only men with RA were found to have significantly increased frequency of carotid artery plaques after adjustment for atherosclerotic risk factors. CONCLUSION: Increased atherosclerosis is not a prominent feature of BS, even among those patients with major organ involvement.
OBJECTIVES: We had the impression and preliminary evidence that atherosclerosis was not much increased in Behçet's syndrome (BS). Thus, we evaluated the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in a sizeable group of patients with BS both with major organ involvement and mucocutaneous disease along with diseased and healthy controls. METHODS: We studied 239 (162 M/ 77 F; mean age: 40.7+/-7.0) patients with BS. Seventy-two (32 M/ 40 F) had only mucocutaneous and/or joint disease and 167 (130 M/ 37 F) had major organ involvement. Also 100 (24 M/ 76 F; mean age: 44.7+/-7.1) patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 74 (58 M/ 16 F; mean age: 39.4+/-7.0) patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 156 (83 M/ 73 F; mean age: 39.2+/-6.6) healthy controls (HC) were studied as the control groups. We used B-mode USG to assess the frequency of plaques and intima-media thickness (IMT) in the carotid and femoral arteries. Traditional atherosclerotic risk factors were also evaluated. Men and women were analyzed separately. RESULTS: The frequency of plaques and the mean IMT in the carotid and femoral arteries were similar between patients with BS, AS and HC and also between the 2 subgroups of BS, among both men and women. Only men with RA were found to have significantly increased frequency of carotid artery plaques after adjustment for atherosclerotic risk factors. CONCLUSION: Increased atherosclerosis is not a prominent feature of BS, even among those patients with major organ involvement.
Authors: E Cure; A Icli; A Ugur Uslu; R Aydoğan Baykara; D Sakiz; M Ozucan; F Yavuz; S Arslan; M Cumhur Cure; A Kucuk Journal: Z Rheumatol Date: 2017-04 Impact factor: 1.372