EVALUATION OF CAROTID INTIMA-MEDIA THICKNESS AS AN EARLY PREDICTOR OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Аннотация

Purpose of the study: To evaluate the parameter of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) as an early predictor of atherosclerosis development in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Materials and Methods. 89 patients with RA aged 35-60 years were studied. Carotid arteries IMT was determined by Doppler study in B-mode. Results and discussion: The results obtained by determining the intima-media complex (IMC) thickness of the common carotid artery in patients with RA were 0.98 ± 0.18 mm in the right carotid artery and 1.01 ± 0.18 mm in the left carotid artery. An abnormal increase in this index (>0.9 (mm)) was found in more than half of the patients in the study, 49(55.1%) cases, and the CMR was 1.13 ± 0.07 mm in the right carotid artery and 1.16 ± 0.07 mm in the left carotid artery. Conclusions: Assessment of carotid artery IMT parameters as an early predictor of atherosclerosis development in rheumatoid arthritis patients enables timely assessment of cardiovascular risk and development of preventive and treatment measures.