Arterial Distensibility in Chronic Inflammatory Rheumatic Disorders

Abstract

Abstract:The pulse wave velocity (PWV), as an indicator of arterial distensibility, may play an important role in the stratification of patients based on the cardiovascular risk. PWV inversely correlates with arterial distensibility and relative arterial compliance. Decreased arterial distensibility alters arterial blood pressure and flow dynamics, and disturbes coronary perfusion. Systemic immune and inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, predominantly due to adverse cardiovascular events. Systemic inflammation in these disorders may alter arterial compliance and arterial distensibility and, through this effect, lead to accelerated atherosclerosis. We have demonstrated an increase in the carotid-femoral (aortic) PWV that is a technique in which large artery elasticity is assessed from analysis of the peripheral arterial waveform, in patients with chronic inflammatory conditions such as RA, SLE, familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), sarcoidosis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis except Behçet's disease (BD). In this review, the issue of arterial stiffness in RA, SLE, as well as WG, psoriasis, FMF, BD, sarcoidosis, systemic sclerosis (SS) and Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is overviewed.

Increased aortic stiffness in ulcerative colitis

“…From inflammatory disorders, it is mainly chronic rheumatic disorders that have been examined to be associated with increased arterial stiffness [13,14]. In the present study, the echocardiographically determined aortic elastic properties and Arteriograph-derived PWV and Aix were found to be abnormal in UC patients compared to age-and gender-matched healthy controls.…”

Acute effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy on arterial distensibility and serum norepinephrine levels in advanced heart failure

“…Arterial distensibility plays a great clinical role in describing patients at high cardiovascular risk [4,28]. It is an important mechanical property as it is related to the impedance of blood vessels and in turn to the pulsatile afterload that is presented to the LV [29].…”

Silent cardiovascular involvement in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis: a controlled cross‐sectional study

“…A number of studies have established the usefulness of CFR in the detection of coronary macrocirculation and microcirculation disorders in systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs) (6,7), and many classic and novel cardiovascular (CV) indices have been formulated for the detection of subclinical atherosclerosis, including carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) (8,9). In patients with SADs, the most important parameters for evaluating endothelial dysfunction and early atherosclerosis are arterial distensibility and stiffness (10,11). Arterial stiffness is a novel marker of vascular dysfunction that has recently been recognized as an independent risk factor of CV disease (CVD) (12), and Laurent et al (13) have evaluated arterial stiffness using pulse wave velocity (PWV).…”