Endothelial dysfunction in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

It is currently shown that endothelial function study is a rather informative way of assessing the cardiovascular risk. Many investigations have shown the high rate of endothelial dysfunction (ED) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); however, clinical data on ED in patients with SLE are scarce; which seems to be generated by difficulties in the diagnosis of this condition and to necessitate the modification of the existing diagnostic methods. The signs of ED were detected in 40% of the patients. Its development was associated with the activity of SLE, the presence of Raynaud's syndrome, elevated systolic blood pressure, plasma fibrinogen levels, and the larger daily dose of prednisolone. The method proposed by the authors to study endothelial function from the diagnostic capacities on the basis of volumetric compression oscillometry is comparable with the standard ultrasound method, which allows its clinical use to evaluate the endothelial state.