Serum Levels of Anticyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibodies, Interleukin-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, and C-Reactive Protein Are Associated with Increased Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of a Cohort of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients without Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Table 1

Comparison of ultrasound parameters between patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls (HC).

Ultrasound parameters	HC	RA
Common carotid artery
Proximal third, mm ± SD			0.001
Distal third, mm ± SD			<0.001
Bulb, mm ± SD			0.01
Internal carotid artery
Proximal third, mm ± SD			<0.001
Distal third, mm ± SD			<0.001
Increased carotid intima-media thickness, (%)	9 (14.5)	35 (42.7)	0.005
Number of segments thickened, (%)			<0.001
Presence of carotid plaque, (%)	4 (6.5)	6 (7.3)	0.83

RA, rheumatoid arthritis; HC, healthy controls. Qualitative variables are expressed as frequencies (%); quantitative variables are expressed as means ± standard deviations (SD). Comparisons between proportions were computed using Chi-square or Fisher exact test. Comparisons between means were computed with unpaired Student’s -test.