Progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in ankylosing spondylitis: a 10-year prospective study

AbstractChronic systemic inflammation contributes to increased CVD burden in Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). Since long-term follow-up data on subclinical atherosclerosis acceleration are lacking, we examined its progression in contemporary AS patients during 10  years. Fifty-three (89% male, aged 50.4 (36.3–55.9) years,) non-diabetic, CVD-free AS patients and 53 age-sex-matched non-diabetic, control individuals were re-evaluated after 9.2–10.2 years by ultrasonography for carotid/femoral atheromatosis, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and intima-media thick ness (IMT), performed by the same operator/protocol. New atheromatic plaque formation, PWV deterioration, and IMT increase were associated only with classical CVD risk factors, as reflected by the heartSCORE (age, gender, smoking status, blood pressure and cholesterol levels) by multivariate analysi s, rather than disease presence. However, among AS patients, despite remission/low disease activity at follow-up end in 79%, atheromatosis progression was associated by multivariate analysis with higher BASDAI scores (p = 0.028), independently of biologic therapies administered in 2/3 of them. Moreover, in AS patients, but not in controls, PWV values at baseline were associated with plaque progression during the 10-year follow-up after taking into account baseline heartSCORE and plaque burden status (p = 0.033). Despite comparable prevalence of both hypertension and hypercholesterolemia at baseline between patients and con...
Source: Rheumatology International - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: research