It has recently emerged that endothelial dysfunction is an early step in the development of
atherosclerosis and is mainly characterised by a reduction in the bioavailability of nitric oxide. …

Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),
primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), systemic sclerosis and systemic vasculitis, …

The higher mortality rate among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in comparison with the
general population is largely attributable to cardiovascular (CV) disease, particularly coronary …

… Regarding technical issues, STE needs high quality grey-scale images with an optimal
frame rate between 50 and 70 frames/s. Amundsen et al[17] have demonstrated that STE can …

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with enhanced atherosclerosis and impaired endothelial
function early after the onset of the disease and cardiovascular (CV) disease represents …

Objective. Plasma concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a major
endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, is considered a novel risk factor for endothelial …

The high rates of cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity observed in patients with
systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs) cannot be fully explained by traditional atherosclerosis …

… In RA patients, we observed a significant reduction of S′, E′ and E′/A′ ratio obtained
from the basal septum and lateral mitral annulus in comparison with controls, as summarized …

… Interrater reliability for the 123 results obtained in level 1 of screening and the six results
in level 2 of screening was calculated by Cohen’s kappa. Discrepancies between reviewers …

Morbidity and mortality rates are higher in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients than in the
general population. Many studies have shown that coronary artery disease is one of the most …