title: [Prevalence of atherosclerotic vascular disease in cuban patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].
abstract: Atherosclerotic vascular disease-associated mortality and morbidity has increased in sick patients with with systemic erythematosus lupus (SLE).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine frequency of atherosclerotic vascular disease (AVD) in our patients, and to identify associations of some risk factors associated to its presence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study included 51 patients and 51 controls paired by age, sex, and skin colour, who underwent carotid ultrasound (US) to measure thickness of intimamedial complex, and to determine presence of plaques. In patients and controls we analyzed the presence of classic risk factors, eg age, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. In addition in SLE we also analyzed the influencie on AVD of the clinical features of disease, as well as treatments applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Risk factors were similar between patients and controls, except for hypertriglyeridemia, which was more frequent in patients. Presence of plaque was more prevalent in patients than in controls (59.9 vs 23.5%, P=.001). In multivariate analysis age (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.038-1.253; P=.005), diagnosis of SLE (OR, = 3.872; CI 95%, 1.4-10.2; p = 0.005), and presence of damage by SLICC/ACR (OR, 34.884; 95% CI, 1.1-12.9; P=.006) were the only variables independently associated to the presence of atherosclerosis in our patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frequency of atherosclerosis is increased in patients presenting with SLE, risk factors independent of those classics, seem to be associated with this presence.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Reumatología. Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras. La Habana. Cuba.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Estévez Del Toro
authors.forename: Araceli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chico Capote
authors.forename: Roque
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alejandro Barahona Jorge
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jiménez Paneque
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hernández Castro