Reumatismo
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Aortic pulse wave velocity measurement in systemic sclerosis patients.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by endothelial dysfunction and widespread microangiopathy. However, a macrovascular damage could be also associated. Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) is known to be a reliable indicator of arterial stiffness and a useful prognostic predictor of cardiovascular events. Moreover, aPWV may be easily measured by non-invasive, user-friendly tool. Aim of our study was to evaluate aPWV alterations in a series of SSc patients. ⋯ A significantly higher prevalence of abnormally increased aPWV was evidenced in SSc patients compared to healthy controls. The possibility of more pronounced and diffuse vascular damage in a particular SSc subset (ACA-positive subjects with limited cutaneous scleroderma and longer disease duration) might be raised.