title: Intima-media thickness of carotid artery in patients with Behçet's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this study we investigated the carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in Tunisian patients with Behçet's disease (BD), and we evaluated the relationship between traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors, disease manifestations, disease severity, use of immunosuppressive agents and cIMT in patients with BD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty patients with BD were individually matched to 50 control subjects on the basis of age, gender and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Subjects with diabetes mellitus, evidence of myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular disease were excluded from the study. Patients with arterial involvement were also excluded. We measured serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen, creatinine levels and lipid profile. We also measured serum vitamin B12, folate, total plasma homocysteine levels, and HOMA-IR values. We used B-mode ultrasonography to assess the cIMT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  cIMT in the BD group was significantly higher than in the control group (0.658 ± 0.112 mm vs. 0.581 ± 0.087 mm, respectively, p <10(-3)). The frequency of plaques in the carotid arteries was similar between study groups. In univariate analyses, the cIMT of BD patients was correlated with age (r = 0.510, p <10(-3)), male gender (p = 0.032), and creatinine clearance (r = -0.421, p = 0.003). It was inversely correlated with HOMA-IR values and serum vitamin B12 level. cIMT values were independent of disease manifestations, disease duration, or corticoid therapy. In the multivariate analysis, only male gender and creatinine clearance remained significantly associated with cIMT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data indicate morphologic evidence of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with BD. Increased arterial wall thickness was not associated with the disease duration, clinical manifestations and immunosuppressive therapy.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit Molecular Bases of Human Diseases, Sfax College of Medicine, Tunisia. meriammessedi@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Meriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Messedi
authors.forename: Makram
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frigui
authors.forename: Khaireddine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ben Mahfoudh
authors.forename: Hanen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feki
authors.forename: Salma Triki
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Ben Mahfoudh
authors.forename: Jameleddine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mnif
authors.forename: Zouhir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bahloul
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ayadi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult