Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Patients with Cushing Syndrome: Evaluation with Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Ankle-Brachial Index.
10.3803/EnM.2015.30.4.488
- Author:
Luigi PETRAMALA
1
,
2
;
D'Elia LORENZO
;
Gino IANNUCCI
;
Antonio CONCISTRE
;
Laura ZINNAMOSCA
;
Cristiano MARINELLI
;
Giuseppe DE VINCENTIS
;
Antonio CIARDI
;
Giorgio DE TOMA
;
Claudio LETIZIA
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy. claudio.letizia@uniroma
2. it
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Cushing syndrome;
Subclinical atherosclerosis;
Carotid intima-media thickness;
Ankle brachial index
- MeSH:
Adiposity;
Ankle Brachial Index*;
Atherosclerosis*;
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness*;
Cushing Syndrome*;
Homicide;
Humans;
Hydrocortisone;
Hyperglycemia;
Hypertension;
Prevalence;
Thromboembolism;
Biomarkers
- From:Endocrinology and Metabolism
2015;30(4):488-493
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Cushing syndrome (CS) has been described as a killing disease due its cardiovascular complications. In fact, chronic cortisol excess leads to a constellation of complications, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, adiposity, and thromboembolism. The main vascular alteration associated with CS is atherosclerosis. METHODS: Aim of this study was to analyze carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and ankle-brachial index (ABI), two surrogate markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in a consecutive series of CS patients, compared to patients with essential hypertension (EH) and health subjects (HS). RESULTS: Patients with CS showed a significant increase (P<0.05) of cIMT (0.89+/-0.17 mm) compared to EH (0.81+/-0.16 mm) and HS (0.75+/-0.4 mm), with a high prevalence of plaque (23%; P<0.03). Moreover, CS patients showed a mean ABI values (1.07+/-0.02) significantly lower respect to HS (1.12+/-0.11; P<0.05), and a higher percentage (20%) of pathological values of ABI (< or =0.9; P<0.03). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we confirmed and extended the data of cIMT in CS, and showed that the ABI represent another surrogate marker of subclinical atherosclerosis in this disease.
