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Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in patients with systemic sclerosis: an experience from tertiary care center from North India

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Abstract

Role of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) testing in the assessment of the macrovascular dysfunction in systemic sclerosis (SS) and correlation of FMD values with disease severity. Twenty-five patients of SS and 25 healthy age-matched controls were recruited. Modified Rodnan skin thickness score (MRSS) was used for skin thickness assessment. FMD values were measured in the brachial artery. FMD values done at baseline before the initiation of treatment were lower in SSc patients (4.044 ± 2.742) compared to the healthy controls (11.076 ± 5.896) (P < 0.05). Comparison of FMD values between patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (LSSc) and diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (DSSc) showed a trend toward lower in LSSc (3.182 ± 2.482) as compared to DSSc patients (5.111 ± 2.711); however, the difference was not statistically significant. Patients with lung manifestations on high-resolution CT chest showed lower FMD values (2.66 ± 2.23) compared to those without HRCT changes (6.45 ± 2.56) (P < 0.05). We demonstrate that FMD values in SSc patients were lower when compared to healthy controls. Patients with SS having pulmonary manifestations showed a lower value of FMD.

Key Points

• FMD is a simple non-invasive tool to assess the endothelial function in patients with systemic sclerosis.

• Lower values of FMD in systemic sclerosis suggest that the endothelial dysfunction and values can also be correlated with other organ involvement such as lung and skin involvement. So, lower FMD values might be a useful marker for disease severity.

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Data Availability

The data underline this article are provided in manuscript.

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Acknowledgements

All authors have contributed to the preparation of the manuscript and in the patient management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India

    Kavita Poonia, Mala Bhalla, Kanika Dogar & Kajal Aggarwal

  2. Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, All India Institute of Medical Science, Bathinda, India

    Kavita Poonia

  3. Department of Physiology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India

    Anita Malhotra

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  1. Kavita Poonia
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  2. Mala Bhalla
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Correspondence to Kavita Poonia.

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Poonia, K., Bhalla, M., Dogar, K. et al. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in patients with systemic sclerosis: an experience from tertiary care center from North India. Clin Rheumatol 42, 1827–1832 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-023-06562-3

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