Increased pulmonary arterial stiffness in Behçet's disease is independent of aortic arterial stiffness.

Introduction: Behçet's disease (BD) is a vasculitis affecting multiple systems within the body and poses challenges due to its diverse organ involvement. This study investigates the relationship between systemic and pulmonary arterial parameters and the involvement of the disease, utilizing non-invasive measures to assess pulmonary and aortic stiffness in BD patients.

Methods: Transthoracic echocardiography and a blood pressure holter monitor were utilized to evaluate a total of 96 patients with BD and 51 healthy controls. Various parameters, including pulmonary pulse wave transit time (pPTT), pulmonary arterial stiffness (PAS), and aortic stiffness, were measured to investigate their association with BD and potential predictive value in disease progression.

Results: The PAS (kHz/sec) increased in BD patients (20.8 ± 5.8 vs 15.0 ± 2.7, p < 0.001), and this condition was associated with disease duration and C-Reactive protein (CRP) values (r = 0.361 p < 0.001, r = 0.377 p < 0.001, respectively). pPTT (sec) exhibited a significant decrease compared to the control group (0.16 ± 0.04 vs. 0.23 ± 0.05, p < 0.001), while no notable difference was detected in aortic stiffness parameters. In linear regression analysis CRP and disease duration were independent predictors of PAS, albeit age, left ventricle ejection fraction, aortic stiffness (pulse wave velocity) and activity score were not.

Conclusion: Increased PAS in BD is independent of aortic arterial stiffness. It is affected by inflammation and disease duration.