stract:
Aim: To study the extent of the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), plaques and the most predicting subclinical atherosclerotic variables (IL-6) in different grades of disease activity in rheumatoid patients .
Patients and methods: 120 RA patients, sex and age matched controls were recruited at rheumatology department Benha university Egypt. They were 98 females and 22 males. Their ages ranged between 25 and 66 years and disease duration from 1 to 26 years with a mean of 9.7± 6.04 .Cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, RA characteristics were recorded. cartoid (IMT) and plaques were assessed in RA patients and controls with high resolution B-mode ultrasound ultrasound (US).
Results: The mean value of IMT in the patients was 1.18± 0.98 mm while in the controls was 0.63± 0.18 mm which show highly statistically significant between two groups(p |