RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Systemic Sclerosis Is Associated with Profound Impairment of Microvascular Endothelium-dependent Vasodilatation
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.110397
DO 10.3899/jrheum.110397
A1 Herman M.A. Hofstee
A1 Alexandre E. Voskuyl
A1 Anton Vonk Noordegraaf
A1 Yvo M. Smulders
A1 Piet E. Postmus
A1 Ben A.C. Dijkmans
A1 Erik H. Serné
YR 2011
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2011/12/14/jrheum.110397.abstract
AB Objective Impaired microvascular function may contribute to organ complications in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). We investigated whether SSc patients with and without pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) show a graded impairment of microvascular function compared to healthy controls. Methods Twenty-two patients with SSc and 22 controls were studied. All patients underwent right heart catheterization; 6 had no PAH (SSc-nonPAH) and 16 had PAH (SSc-PAH). Acetylcholine (ACh)-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilatation and sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-mediated endothelium-independent vasodilatation were assessed by iontophoresis combined with laser Doppler flowmetry. Results Compared to sex- and age-matched controls, ACh-mediated vasodilatation was reduced in SSc-PAH (340.4% vs 79.5%, respectively; p < 0.01), but not in SSc-nonPAH (340.4% vs 397.9%; p = 0.90). No significant differences were present between the groups in SNP-mediated vasodilatation. Conclusion Systemic microvascular endothelium-dependent vasodilatation is markedly reduced in SSc complicated by PAH.