P171 Cardiovascular Risk Evaluation in Behcet’s Patients — the Role of Chronic Inflammation in Arterial Stiffness

Introduction Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory syndrome with systemic manifestations. Systemic vasculitis contribute to vascular aging, increasing the arterial stiffness that can be inferred from the Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) measurement. Carotid ultrasound evaluation allows vascular wall changes detection, as the increase of intima-media thickness (>IMT) and plaques. These alterations increase cardiovascular risk (CVR). Methods 49 patients were included. Anthropometric, sociodemographic, laboratorial, comorbidities, medication, peripheral and central blood pressure, Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation, PWV and carotid ultrasound abnormalities data were evaluated. To understand the role of chronic inflammation in arterial stiffness, comparative analyzes were performed with a control group with CVR factors and with a group of healthy individuals. Results The sample consisted mainly of women (61.2%), characterized by 30.6% of arterial hypertension, 32.7% of dyslipidemia, 4.1% of diabetes and 14.3% of obesity. PWV median value was 8.32m/s, with 30.6% PWV > 90th percentile of the normal reference population and 16.3% with target organ lesion. >IMT in the common carotid artery (CCA) and plaques were observed in 10.4% and 41.7%, respectively. In the obtained linear regression model, the variables systolic central blood pressure and ˃IMT in the ACC showed a statistically significant impact on PWV. In the established comparisons, PWV did not present statistically significant differences. Conclusion: The integrated analysis of the collected data made it possible to requalify the patients in the context of the CVR, allowing the early adoption of control measures. Chronic inflammation associated with BD did not lead to significant differences in arterial stiffness.