To the Editor:
We read the letter of Dr. Gonzalez-Gay and colleagues1 with great interest; we are happy that they refer to our recent work2 — most of their data on atherosclerosis in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are in agreement with ours. Coming to such agreement is extremely important as there have been controversies regarding vascular involvement in AS. While some groups had reported no changes in carotid atherosclerosis (by common carotid intima-media thickness; ccIMT) in AS, investigations by Gonzalez-Gay3, by Peters, et al4, and by ourselves indeed found increased ccIMT in patients with AS compared to controls, indicating early, subclinical atherosclerosis associated with AS. These data support that carotid ultrasonography is a valuable technique for detection of early, sublinical vascular disease.