Hettema ME et al. - Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is not associated with an increased prevalence of early signs of atherosclerosis. Methods
Pts with SSc were compared to healthy controls for signs of early atherosclerosis by measuring intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery vs the traditional risk factors
49 pts with SSc, in which 92% had limited cutaneous SSc, and 32 healthy controls were studied
Common carotid IMT was measured by using B-mode ultrasound
Traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease were assessed and serum markers for endothelial activation measured
Results
In pts with SSc the mean IMT was not increased vs healthy controls
Even after correction for age, HDL, LDL and history of macrovascular disease, no difference in IMT was present between SSc pts and healthy controls
Plaques were found in 3 pts and not in healthy controls
In pts no correlations were found between maximum IMT, disease related variables and markers of endothelial activation
Endothelial activation markers were not increased in SSc pts vs controls
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