Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in patients with systemic sclerosis: an experience from tertiary care center from North India

Role of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) testing in the assessment of the macrovascular dysfunction in systemic sclerosis (SS) and correlation of FMD values with disease severity. Twenty-five patients of SS and 25 healthy age-matched controls were recruited. Modified Rodnan skin thickness score (MRSS) was used for skin thickness assessment. FMD values were measured in the brachial artery. FMD values done at baseline before the initiation of treatment were lower in SSc patients (4.044 +/- 2.742) compared to the healthy controls (11.076 +/- 5.896) (P < 0.05). Comparison of FMD values between patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (LSSc) and diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (DSSc) showed a trend toward lower in LSSc (3.182 +/- 2.482) as compared to DSSc patients (5.111 +/- 2.711); however, the difference was not statistically significant. Patients with lung manifestations on high-resolution CT chest showed lower FMD values (2.66 +/- 2.23) compared to those without HRCT changes (6.45 +/- 2.56) (P < 0.05). We demonstrate that FMD values in SSc patients were lower when compared to healthy controls. Patients with SS having pulmonary manifestations showed a lower value of FMD.

Automated summary

Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) testing can assess macrovascular dysfunction in systemic sclerosis (SS) and correlate FMD values with disease severity. Lower FMD values were observed in SS patients compared to healthy controls. Lung manifestations in SS patients were associated with lower FMD values.