Rheumatology Medical News about longstanding rheumatoid arthritis;large-artery remodeling

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Augmentation index and large-artery remodeling in patients with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis compared with healthy controls
Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, 06/30/09

Pieringer H et al. – Study demonstrates that augmentation index (Aix), a marker of arterial stiffness, as well as intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of large-artery remodeling, are increased in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients without traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. Measuring AIx might assist in better assessing the increased CV risk in RA pts.

Methods

Study was undertaken to:
- Investigate whether AIx is increased in RA pts w/o traditional CV risk factors and
- Evaluate whether there is an interrelationship with large artery remodeling as ascertained by carotid ultrasound
36 RA pts (age: 46.4±7.7 yrs; 31 female); were eligible for analysis if they had no traditional CV risk factors
AIx was assessed noninvasively during pulse wave analyses
For large artery remodeling IMT was measured in both common carotid arteries with ultrasound
Results were compared with 36 age- and sex-matched controls

Results