POS1369 PULMONARY ARTERY WALL THICKNESS IS INCREASED IN BEHÇET’S DISEASE

Abstract

BackgroundBehçet’s Disease (BD) is a unique systemic vasculitis that mainly involves veins, in contrast to other vasculitides [1, 2]. Prior studies showed that pulmonary arteries have a similar structure with systemic veins in terms of wideness, thin-walled, increased compliance, and low resistance [3]. We have recently shown increased venous wall thickness in lower extremity veins of BD patients.ObjectivesIn this study, we aimed to assess pulmonary artery (PA) wall thickness by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in BD compared to healthy controls and patients with non-inflammatory pulmonary embolism (NIPE).MethodsPatients with BD (n=77), NIPE (n=33) and healthy controls (n=57) were included in the study. PA wall thickness was measured with TTE by a cardiologist blinded to cases. PA wall thickness was measured from the mid-portion of the main PA (approximately 1 to 2 cm distal to the pulmonary valve) as demonstrated in Figure 1.Figure 1.Measurement of pulmonary artery wall thickness by Transthoracic EchocardiographyResultsPA wall thickness was significantly lower in controls (0.36 mm (SD:0.03) compared to NIPE (0.44 mm (SD:0.05) and BD (0.44 mm (SD:0.06) (p<0.001 for both). PA wall thickness was also found to be significantly higher in BD patients with major organ involvement (0.47 mm (SD:0.04) compared to healthy controls and NIPE (p <0.001 and p=0.006, respectively). PA wall thickness was similar between BD and NIPE (p= 0.6). Among patients with BD, PA wall thickness was significantly lower in patients with only mucocutaneous involvement compared to patients with major organ involvement (0.37 mm vs 0.47 mm, p< 001), it was also similar between patients with only mucocutaneous involvement and healthy controls (0.37 mm vs 0.36 mm, p= 0.3). PA wall thickness was comparable between patients with vascular and non-vascular major organ involvement (0.46 mm vs 0.47 mm, p= 0.3). Patients with vascular and non-vascular major organ involvement had significantly higher PA wall measurements compared with NIPE patients (p= 0.04, p= 0.02, respectively).ConclusionWe found that PA wall thickness was significantly higher in BD with major organ involvement compared to BD patients with only mucocutaneous involvement regardless of major organ involvement type. These results suggest that increased PA wall thickness in BD may be the predictor of the major organ involvement during follow-up.