Akshay Jain Salecha; Santh Kumar Bellamkonda; Haritha Samanthula; .Sujit Kumar Ponugoti; Anusha Jakkampudi
Abstract
Background: Psoriasis is a prevailing continual inflammatoryaffliction, carrying a considerable risk of cardiac diseases,sometimes even not traceable by conventional predisposingfactors. Detection of subclinical atherosclerosis in psoriasis byultrasonography is beneficial, and it has been solitarily ...
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Background: Psoriasis is a prevailing continual inflammatoryaffliction, carrying a considerable risk of cardiac diseases,sometimes even not traceable by conventional predisposingfactors. Detection of subclinical atherosclerosis in psoriasis byultrasonography is beneficial, and it has been solitarily exploredin carotid arteries. It was found to have a weak predictive value,and so the femoral arteries have now been contemplated. Thisstudy aims to determine subclinical atherosclerosis occurrenceby evaluating the femoral and carotid arteries’ intima-mediathickness (IMT) by ultrasonography in patients with psoriasis.Methods: The study was carried out in the departments ofdermatology and radiology at Dr. Pinnamaneni SiddharthaInstitute of Medical Sciences & Research Foundation for eightmonths. The sample size consisted of 30 chronic plaque psoriasiscases and 30 controls, matched for age and sex. Patients withcomorbidities were excluded. Femoral & carotid arteries wereassessed for IMT by ultrasonography.Results: In our study, the age range was 30–80 years, and a male(56.7%) preponderance was observed in cases and controls. Themean femoral artery and carotid artery IMTs were remarkablygreater in cases than in controls, with P-values < 0.001 and 0.04,respectively. The mean femoral artery IMT was significantly moreelevated (1.4 ± 0.63 mm) than the carotid artery IMT (1.0 ± 0.62mm) in cases (P = 0.01).Conclusion: Ultrasonographic screening of femoral artery IMTenhances the early discernment of subclinical atherosclerosis whencompared with carotid artery IMT. Thereby, it helps in the earlyidentification of cardiovascular disease in patients with psoriasis.Keywords: femoral artery, carotid artery, intima-media thickness,psoriasis, atherosclerosis
