Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis in Egyptian Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients and Its Relation to Disease Activity

Table 8

Comparison of endothelial function in RA patients and controls.

	RA patients; ( = 112)	Controls; ( = 40)
	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD
Pre. fmd (average)	3.69 ± 0.51	3.9 ± 0.49	0.121
Post. fmd (average)	4.32 ± 0.60	5.11 ± 0.52
Fmd dilatation %	17.30 ± 7.72	28.52 ± 10.11
Pre. GTN (average)	3.71 ± 0.54	3.91 ± 0.49	0.150
Post. GTN (average)	4.63 ± 0.72	4.89 ± 0.62	0.131
GTN dilatation %	24.87 ± 9.02	25.72 ± 9.67	0.727
Dilatation ratio	0.71 ± 0.261	1.078 ± 0.189

FMD = flow mediated dilatation, GTN = glyceryl trinitrate.
Highly significant.