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KMID : 0338420080230020087
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The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine
2008 Volume.23 No. 2 p.87 ~ p.93
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Carotid artery intima-media thickness in Behcet’s isease patients without significant cardiovascular involvement
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Hong Seo-Na
Park Jong-Chun
Yoon Nam-Sik
Lee Sang-Rok
Kim Kye-Hun
Hong Young-Joon
Park Hyung-Wook
Kim Ju-Han
Ahn Young-Keun
Jeong Myung-Ho
Cho Jeong-Gwan
Kang Jung-Chaee
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Abstract
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Background/Aims: Behcet’s disease (BD) is a systemic disorder associated with a characteristic vasculitis that can involve both veins and arteries of all sizes. Endothelial activation or injury is a characteristic feature of BD. Endothelial dysfunction is widely regarded as being the initial lesion in the development of atherosclerosis. The carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) is a widely accepted marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. We aimed to determine the carotid IMT in BD patients with using high-resolution B-mode Doppler ultrasonography.
Methods:We studied 40 patients (24 males, mean age: 39.1±8.5 years) who were diagnosed by the international diagnostic criteria of Behcet’s disease and 20 healthy controls (13 males, mean age: 40.2±5.1 years), and the two groups were matched by age and gender. No subject in either group had a history of atherosclerosis or its complications. The clinical data, including the age of onset, the duration of disease, a history of medication, the activity score and the laboratory data were analyzed.
Results:The carotid IMT in the BD group was significantly higher than that in the control group (0.71±0.22 mm vs. 0.59±0.09 mm, respectively, p<0.01). Cardiac and major vessel involvements were not identified in the BD group. However, minor vascular involvements were documented in 2 patients with deep vein thrombosis, in 4 patients with superficial thrombophlebitis and in 2 patients with pseudoaneurysm. The carotid IMT in the patients with posterior uveitis or retinal vasculitis was higher than that of the patients without these findings (0.85±0.21 mm vs. 0.64±0.10 mm, respectively, p=0.007), but there was no difference of the IMT according to minor vascular involvement.
Conclusions : Despite that there was no significant cardiovascular involvement in the BD patients, the carotid IMT was significantly higher in the BD patients as compared with the healthy controls.
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KEYWORD
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Behcet’s disease, Carotid intima-media thickness, Cardiovascular involvement
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