Baseline and follow-up descriptive in 77 patients with SLE and 74 controls
| SLE | P value | Controls | P value | |||
| Baseline | Follow-up | Baseline | Follow-up | |||
| Age, years | 46.7 (13.6) | 54.0 (13.7) | NA | 50.5 (11.5) | 57.7 (11.7) | NA |
| Male sex % (n) | 13 (10) | NA | NA | 11 (8) | NA | NA |
| CV clinical and laboratory characteristics | ||||||
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 127.2 (20.5) | 133.4 (22.0) | 0.011 | 121.5 (19.1) | 136.4 (22.5) | < 0.001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 79.2 (12.7) | 84.9 (11.1) | < 0.001 | 76.5 (11.0) | 85.5 (10.3) | < 0.001 |
| Blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg % | 39.0* | 57.3 | 0.011 | 23.0 | 56.2 | < 0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.6 (1.1) | 4.8 (1.1)* | 0.048 | 4.9 (1.0) | 5.3 (1.0) | < 0.001 |
| LDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 2.5 (0.9)* | 2.7 (0.9)* | 0.051 | 2.8 (0.8) | 3.1 (1.0) | < 0.001 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.6 (0.5)* | 1.6 (0.4)* | 0.9 | 1.8 (0.6) | 1.8 (0.5) | 0.6 |
| TC:HDL ratio | 3.1 (2.9) | 3.2 (2.9) | 0.3 | 3.0 (0.9) | 3.2 (0.9) | 0.021 |
| LDL:HDL ratio | 1.73 (0.82) | 1.79 (0.87) | 0.4 | 1.75 (0.75) | 1.90 (0.83) | 0.035 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.1 (0.5)* | 1.2 (0.6)* | 0.1 | 0.8 (0.4) | 0.9 (0.4) | 0.081 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.6 (4.6) | 26.2 (5.4) | < 0.001 | 25.2 (4.2) | 26.2 (25.5) | 0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 84.6 (15.3) | 90.1 (14.3) | 0.001 | 85.5 (11.2) | 88.5 (12.2) | 0.003 |
| CRP (mg/L), median (IQR) | 1.4 (0.7–3.8) | 1.6 (0.5–4.4) | 0.7 | 1.1 (0.5–2.6) | 0.8 (0.5–2.6) | 0.8 |
| ESR (mm/h) | 22.9 (17.4)* | 21.4 (17.9)* | 0.4 | 9.8 (5.6) | 12.0 (9.4) | 0.021 |
| Serum creatinine (µmol/L) | 77.0 (26.9) | 75.1 (30.9) | 0.050 | 69.0 (11.3) | 67.2 (11.7) | 0.2 |
| Traditional CV risk factors, % | ||||||
| Smoking ever | 55.8 | 57.3 | 0.500 | 51.4 | 56.2 | 0.3 |
| Hypertension | 55.8* | 70.7 | 0.013 | 25.7 | 56.2 | < 0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 2.6 | 9.3 | 0.063 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 1.0 |
| Dyslipidaemia | 33.8 | 40.5 | 0.5 | 37.8 | 54.8 | 0.002 |
| Obesity | 13.9 | 21.3 | 0.109 | 9.5 | 17.8 | 0.070 |
| Family history of CV disease | 26.0 | 31.9 | 0.3 | 32.4 | 41.7 | 0.016 |
| History of CV events % (n)† | 9.1% (7) | 15.6% (12) | 0.063 | 2.7% (2) | 5.4% (4) | 0.5 |
| Current medications % | ||||||
| Antihypertensive | 45.5* | 50.7* | 0.5 | 8.1 | 17.8 | 0.016 |
| Lipid lowering | 9.1 | 17.3 | 0.070 | 6.8 | 9.6 | 0.6 |
| ASA | 24.7* | 33.3* | 0.070 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 1.0 |
| Carotid ultrasound measurements | ||||||
| Mean cIMT (mm) | 0.607 (0.123) | 0.670 (0.125) | < 0.001 | 0.629 (0.114) | 0.701 (0.130) | < 0.001 |
| Mean cIMT absolute progression (mm) | 0.063 (0.099) | NA | 0.077 (0.093) | NA | ||
| Cartoid plaque % (n) | 39.0%(30) | – | NA | 35.1%(27) | – | NA |
Values are means (SD) unless noted otherwise; p value represents the comparisons within the groups at baseline and follow-up assessments.
*if p<0.05 for between-group differences at the same time-point assessment.
†CV events at follow-up include the events present at baseline.
ASA, low-dose aspirin; BMI, body mass index; cIMT, carotid intima–media thickness; CRP, C reactive protein; CV, cardiovascular; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NA, not available; TC, total cholesterol.