Parameters of arterial stiffness in patients with Behçet’s disease and their relationship with disease duration

The results of investigations of arterial stiffness in Behçet’s disease (BD) are contradictory and the reason for this contradictory situation is not clear. The lack of studies in homogenous groups according to the duration of the disease may be the cause of conflicting results. To compare arterial stiffness by assessing pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx) measurements in healthy controls (HC) and patients diagnosed with BD with short and long disease duration. This cross-sectional study was conducted between August-November 2017 and 54 patients with BD and 34 HC were included. Patients with BD who were diagnosed within 12 months were included in the group with short disease duration (SDD) and the others in the group with long disease duration (LDD). Parameters of cardiovascular risk of all participants were recorded and PWV and AIx values were measured from the brachial artery. AIx was significantly higher in all patients with BD, patients with BD with SDD and patients with BD with LDD, than in HC (p = 0.005, p = 0.011, p = 0.004, respectively). Pulse wave velocity values were not different from HC in patients with BD. When patients with BD with SDD and LDD were compared with each other, PWV was significantly higher in patients with BD with LDD (p = 0.030). There was a moderate correlation between PWV and disease duration (Rho = 0.414, p = 0.002). Augmentation index is higher in patients with BD than HC regardless of disease duration.