Are SLE patients with nephritis at higher risk of premature atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction compared to those without nephritis?
Flow-mediated dilation using vascular ultrasonography is a useful non-invasive method to assess endothelial dysfunction in SLE patients, who are at high risk for arterial stiffening, particularly those with nephritis.
SLE patients with nephritis are at a higher risk to develop arterial stiffening, leading to early end-organ damage. Early aggressive treatment may prevent endothelial dysfunction. FMD using vascular ultrasonography on the brachial artery represents a non-invasive, repeatable and useful method for the assessment of endothelial dysfunction.
Sharma et al. (Wed,) studied this question.