Atherosclerosis
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Observational Study
Statin utilization and lipid goal attainment in high or very-high cardiovascular risk patients: Insights from Italian general practice.
Statin utilization and lipid goal achievement were estimated in a large sample of Italian patients at high/very-high cardiovascular (CV) risk. ⋯ Statin use in this cohort was consistent with previous reports in Italian patients at high/very-high CV risk, and low relative to statin use in other European countries. The low rate of ESC/EAS lipid goal attainment observed was consistent with outcomes of other European studies.
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Little is known about specific genetic determinants of carotid-intima-media thickness (CIMT) and carotid plaque in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We have used the Metabochip array to fine map and replicate loci that influence variation in these phenotypes in Mexican Americans (MAs) and European Americans (EAs). ⋯ We identified novel associations between CIMT and variants in SLC17A2 and PPCDC genes, and between plaque and variants from COL4A1 and SLCA13 that may pinpoint new candidate risk loci for subclinical atherosclerosis associated with RA.
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Observational Study
Subclinical impairment of myocardial and endothelial functionality in very early psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis patients: Association with vitamin D and inflammation.
Cardiovascular (CV) morbidity is increased in inflammatory joint diseases (IJD), as rheumatoid (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Whereas increased prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis has been reported in these conditions, whether an early myocardial functionality is also impaired remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the myocardial functionality by speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) in recent onset RA and PsA patients and its potential associations with the levels of circulating CD34 + cells, vitamin D, and with disease activity. ⋯ Subclinical myocardial dysfunction is observed in IJD patients with preserved left-ventricular function and without traditional CV risk factors. Subclinical myocardial dysfunction was found to be a very early event in IJD. Disease activity was the main predictor of myocardial strain impairment. Interestingly, myocardial function was altered and associated with cIMT also in PsA patients with high disease activity.