Demographic and disease-related characteristics of patients with normal and abnormal myocardial per-fusion scans.
| Characteristic | Normal Scan, n = 76 | Abnormal Scan, n = 46 | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age*, yrs, mean (SD) | 42.7 (9.9) | 48.3 (11.9) | 0.007 |
| Disease duration*, yrs, mean (SD) | 13.14 (8.7) | 16.3 (10.5) | 0.07 |
| Caucasian, n (%) | 55 (72.4) | 40 (87.0) | 0.06 |
| Postmenopausal*, n (%) | 24 (31.6) | 24 (52.2) | 0.02 |
| HRT use, n (%) | |||
| From clinic entry to scan | 17/24 (70.8) | 14/24 (58.3) | 0.37 |
| From scan to CAD event (or last visit) | 25/76 (32.9) | 16/46 (34.8) | 0.83 |
| SLEDAI-2K activity score*†, mean (SD) | 3.7 (4.5) | 3.9 (4.3) | 0.87 |
| Elevated anti-DNA antibody* (by radioimmunoassay) | 23 (30.3) | 16 (34.8) | 0.60 |
| Low complement* (low C3 or C4) | 21 (27.6) | 13 (28.3) | 0.94 |
| Antiphospholipid antibody*†† | 13 (17.1) | 8 (17.4) | 0.97 |
| SLICC-DI damage score*,§, mean (SD) | 1.57 (1.71) | 1.93 (2.04) | 0.30 |
| Corticosteroid use, n (%) | |||
| From clinic entry to scan | 64 (84.2) | 38 (82.6) | 0.82 |
| From scan to CAD event (or last visit) | 57 (75.0) | 37 (80.4) | 0.49 |
| Antimalarial use**, n (%) | |||
| From clinic entry to scan | 55 (72.4) | 38 (82.6) | 0.20 |
| From scan to CAD event (or last visit) | 59 (77.6) | 40 (87.0) | 0.20 |
| Immunosuppressive use***, n (%) | |||
| From clinic entry to scan | 38 (50.0) | 25 (54.4) | 0.64 |
| From scan to CAD event (or last visit) | 39 (51.3) | 23 (50.0) | 0.89 |
↵* At time of myocardial scan;
↵† scores range from 0 to 105, higher scores indicating more active disease20;
↵†† lupus anticoagulant or anticardiolipin antibody;
↵§ scores range from 0 to 46, higher scores indicating greater disease-related damage19;
↵** chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine;
↵*** methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclosporine, and cyclophosphamide. HRT: hormone replacement therapy, CAD: coronary artery disease; SLEDAI-2K: SLE Disease Activity Index 2000; SLICC-DI: Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics-Damage Index.