Univariate analysis of risk factors for atherosclerosis in 78 patients with SLE: continuous variables (mean (SD))* in patients with (yes) and without (no) carotid lesions. Only significant results are reported
| Plaque | Thickened intima | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Risk factors | Yes (n=13) | No (n=65) | p Value | Yes (n=22) | No (n=56) | p Value |
| BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure; PRD, prednisone cumulative dosage. | ||||||
| *For all modifiable risk factors we considered the mean values of the measurements obtained at each evaluation during follow up (see methods). | ||||||
| †For age, BMI, systolic BP, diastolic BP, smoking, and hypercholesterolaemia. | ||||||
| Age (years) | 45.7 (9.9) | 35.3 (8.8) | <0.0005 | 43.3 (10.6) | 34.6 (8.2) | <0.0005 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.0 (3.3) | 23.2 (3.3) | NS | 24.9 (3.5) | 22.9 (3.5) | 0.037 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l) | 6.1 (1.3) | 5.0 (1.0) | 0.001 | 5.8 (1.4) | 4.9 (0.9) | 0.002 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.8 (1.2) | 1.4 (0.7) | NS | 1.9 (1.1) | 1.4 (0.5) | 0.01 |
| Systolic BP (mm Hg) | 138 (16.7) | 124.5 (12.3) | 0.001 | 133.8 (16.1) | 123.9 (12.1) | 0.004 |
| Diastolic BP (mm Hg) | 86.9 (7.2) | 80.3 (9.0) | 0.017 | 86.3 (8.1) | 79.5 (8.7) | 0.002 |
| PRD not adjusted (g) | 46.2 (24.2) | 27.9 (15.3) | 0.001 | 38.0 (23.0) | 28.1 (15.4) | 0.031 |
| PRD Adjusted† (g) | 45.2 (5.0) | 28.1 (2.09) | 0.003 | 36.1 (4.05) | 28.9 (2.4) | NS |