Noninvasive assessment of impaired endothelial dysfunction in mucocutaneous Behçet's disease

Noninvasive assessment of endothelial dysfunction (ED) and diagnosing the early vascular development of atherosclerosis in active mucocutaneous Behçet's disease. Twenty-nine active BD patients (study group) without any obstructive vascular involvement were compared with twenty-nine healthy controls (control group) in terms of ED utilizing endothelium-dependent dilation as well as endothelium-independent dilation (FMD), which was assessed by measuring changes in brachial artery diameter following sublingual glyceril trinitrate (400 microg Nitrolingual spray). All patients underwent a complete transthoracic echocardiographic and tissue Doppler study. A standard form was utilized for the documentation of the presence or absence of the known risk factors for atherosclerotic vascular disease. Statistical analysis was performed by utilizing SPSS version 11. There was no difference between patients and controls in terms of echocardiographic and tissue Doppler parameters as well as baseline brachial artery diameters. Flow-mediated dilation showed 38% impairment in study group compared with control (P<0.05). Endothelium-independent NTG dilatation did not differ in both groups. Ultrasonography is an easily applicable noninvasive method for following BD patients for the risk of ED, which may preclude to atherosclerosis, save time and cost-effective.