Noninvasive assessment of impaired endothelial function in psoriasis

The objectives of this study are noninvasive assessment of endothelial dysfunction (ED) and diagnosing the possible early vascular development of atherosclerosis in psoriasis disease (PD). Twenty-eight PD patients (study group) without any obstructive vascular involvement were compared with 28 healthy controls (control group) in terms of ED utilizing endothelium-dependent dilation as well as endothelium-independent dilation, which was assessed by measuring changes in brachial artery diameter following sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (400 mu g Nitrolingual spray). All patients underwent a complete transthoracic echocardiographic and tissue Doppler study. A standard form was utilized for the documentation of the presence or absence of the known risk factors for atherosclerotic vascular disease. Statistical analysis was performed by utilizing SPSS version 11. There was no difference between patients and controls in terms of echocardiographic and tissue Doppler parameters as well as baseline brachial artery diameters. Flow-mediated dilation showed 37% impairment in study group compared with control (p < 0.05). Endothelium-independent NTG dilatation did not differ in both groups. Noninvasive methods such as ultrasonography, saving time and cost-effective, can be utilized for following outpatient PD patients for the risk of ED, which may preclude to atherosclerosis.