Background/Purpose: Recent studies have shown the relationship between psoriasis (Ps) and subclinical atherosclerosis (athero). Currently, a new automated ultrasound software, based on radio frequency, called RF-QIMT technology ,proved to be a useful method for assessing subclinical atherosclerosis with the measurement of the intima-media thickness (IMT) in carotid arteries. Aim: To compare the carotid IMT in patients with ordinary Ps and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) through the RF-QIMT. Methods: Total of 30 patients with Ps (n = 15), and APs (n = 15) (CASPAR, 2006) were enrolled in this case-control study. Patients with diabetes mellittus, dyslipidemia, previous cardiovascular events and smokers were excluded. We evaluated the measurement of waist circumference, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and disease activity, including PASI. Moreover, they were assessed for cardiovascular risk with the Framingham score and the measured the IMT of both common carotids adopting an automatic software (called RF-QIMT) and laboratory tests, including fasting glucose, total cholesterol and fractions and ESR. Results: Mean age and disease duration was 50.1 ± 9.8 years and 17.8 ± 11.3 years and 54 ± 13 and 14 ± 9.2 years in patients with Ps and APs, respectively, with a slight predominance of men in those with skin disease (50% vs. 43.8%), but no statistical difference between the groups (p> 0.05). In addition, there was no statistical difference between the groups regarding BMI (28.1 ± 6.1 vs. 26.4 ± 5.6 kg / m2), waist circumference (97.6 ± 13.2 vs. 97.8 ± 14.8 cm and ESR (24.8 ± 17.4 vs. 30.2 ± 29.1 mm). Ps patients had significantly higher PASI than those with APs (9.3 ± 9.7 and 2.5 ± 4.8). On the other hand, APs patients had greater Framingham score (13% vs. moderate risk in Ps 60% the APs, p <0.05). There was no statistical difference in relation to the average values of IMT (0.641 ± 0.744 vs. 0,144mm in Ps ± 0,197mm in APs), the standard deviation (SD) of the six average values indicated by the system, were ranging from 12,6μm to 11,13μm, respectively. Despite, it was found that 60% of the patients with Ps and 80% of those APs had  higher IMT measurement than expected (p <0.05). There was no statistically significant correlation between IMT and BMI, CA, PASI and ESR variables. However, there was a statistically significant correlation (r = 0.5; p <0.05) between the IMT measurement and the Framingham score. Conclusion: The results show that patients with Ps and APs have high rates of subclinical atherosclerosis, which can be measured by the new adopting an automatic software (called RF-QIMT) of evaluating the IMT, moreover there was correlation and validation with cardiovascular risk score.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/the-automated-software-guided-ultrasound-assessment-of-bilateral-common-carotids-intima-media-thickness-for-investigation-of-cardiovascular-risk-in-psoriasiscomparison-between-patients-with-or-withou/