Correlations between non ivasive renal index and markers of atherosclerosis in lupus patients

Recent data suggest that renal hemodynamic parameters obtained by duplex Doppler sonography, especially the intrarenal resistive index (RI), may be associated with systemic vascular changes in some groups of patients. However, conflicting data exist about the relationship between aortic stiffness and RI in autoimmune disease, like systemic lupus erythematosus, characterized by high and early incidence of atherosclerotic disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between RI and arterial stiffness, assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), and carotid atherosclerosis, evaluated by intimal medial thickness measurement (IMT) in patients with SLE. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: We enrolled 39 SLE subjects (mean age: 39 years ), 35 women and 4 men. Each patient has been underwent to assessment of ultrasonographic renal RI, IP, measurement of aPWV through oscillometric device, and ultrasound evaluation of carotid IMT. RESULTS: IR correlated significantly with aortic PWV(r: 0,44; p=0,006), and with carotid IMT(r: 0,37; p=0,02) in the study population. The first correlation has remained significant after correction for age and mean arterial pressure. 12 patients have shown aPWV value more than 10 m/sec, that identifies who has more cardiovascular risk. In adding to this, in this group of patients IR levels were higher than in the patients with aPWV less then 10 m/sec. CONCLUSIONS Our results seems to suggest that, as previously demonstrated in other populations, the RI may be considered as a marker of systemic vascular changes and probably a predictor of cardiovascular risk also in SLE patients.