Evaluation of arterial stiffness in patients affected by hand osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Purpose: An higher cardiovascular (CV) risk and increased mortality were found in several osteoarthritis studies, in particular for hand osteoarthritis (HOA) patients. Greater carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), which reflect arterial stiffness, is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of CV events in the general population. An early detection of CV risk in HOA patients may allow preventive care management. Our study aimed to measure arterial stiffness in HOA patients by assessing carotid-femoral PWV in comparison to healthy patients. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted including 82 patients between 45 to 65 years old in two age/sex matched groups, with or without HOA. Patients with current or previous CV disease or inflammatory rheumatism were excluded. A multivariate linear regression adjusted for age and Systematic COronary Risk Estimation (SCORE) score was performed. Results: Independently of age and gender, the HOA group was significantly overweight (24.5 kg/m2 versus 22.6 kg/m2; p=0.042), with an higher abdominal perimeter (85.33cm versus 77.88cm; p = 0.006). Furthermore, HOA patients were more sedentary (6/37 versus 1/45; p = 0.097), with an higher SCORE score (1.35 versus 0.85; p = 0.047). 20/37 patients had ≥1erosive joint involvement. The carotid-femoral PWV did not show statistical difference between the two groups (7.70 m/s in the HOA group versus 7.20 m/s in the control group; p = 0.084). The results were similar after adjustment for age and the SCORE score. Conclusions: Our study did not demonstrate any significant increase in arterial stiffness or worsening of other cardiovascular parameters in patients with HOA compared to control patients. Nevertheless, HOA patients had more often a metabolic syndrome phenotype suggesting the interest to perform a careful and regular screening for CV risk factors.