ASSOCIATION OF RENAL RESISTIVE INDEX WITH MARKERS OF EXTRARENAL VASCULAR CHANGES IN PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

Introduction: Recent data suggest that renal hemodynamicparameters obtained by duplex Doppler sonography,especially the intrarenal resistive index (RRI), may beassociated with systemic vascular changes. However, limitedand conflicting data exist about the relationshipbetween aortic stiffness and RI in autoimmune diseases,like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Aim: To evaluate the relationship between RRI and arterialstiffness, assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV),and between RRI and carotid atherosclerosis, evaluated byintima-media thickness (IMT) measurement in patientswith SLE.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 39 SLEsubjects (mean age 39 years) that were compared with acontrol group of healthy individuals, matched for age andsex. In all subjects routine blood chemistry and standardurinalysis were obtained. Each patient performed ultrasonographicrenal RI, 24-h ambulatory blood pressuremeasurement (ABPM), aPWV through an oscillometricdevice and ultrasound evaluation of carotid IMTResults: RI correlated significantly with aortic PWV (r:0.44; p = 0.006), and with carotid IMT (r: 0.46;p = 0.003) in the study population (Figure). Both correlationsheld (p = 0.01) even after correction for age, meanarterial pressure, and glomerular filtration rate.Conclusions: Our results seems to suggest that, as previouslydemonstrated in other clinical settings, the RRI maybe considered a marker of systemic vascular changes andprobably a predictor of cardiovascular risk also in SLEpatients.