Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29979389›Full record

Observational studyMedicine2018

Differences in carotid atherosclerosis between patients with ankylosing spondylitis treated with tumor necrosis factor-α antagonists and healthy matched controls.

Enrico Maria Zardi, Maria Elena Pipita, Chiara Giorgi, Domenico Lichinchi, Domenico Maria Zardi, Antonella Afeltra

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Residual Traditional Risk in Non-Traditional Atherosclerotic Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Enrico Maria ZardiHospitalist Service, "Campus Bio-Medico" University, Rome Radiology Department, S Maria della Misericordia Hospital, Urbino Division of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza," Sant'Andrea Hospital Immunorheumatology Unit, "Campus Bio-Medico" University, Rome, Italy.
Maria Elena Pipita
Chiara Giorgi
Domenico Lichinchi
Domenico Maria Zardi
Antonella Afeltra
Università Campus Bio-Medico · ITAzienda Ospedaliera Sant'Andrea · ITMisericordia University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

An increased vascular risk is present in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In this report, we evaluate the presence and grade of atherosclerosis in patients with AS, uninterruptedly treated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) antagonists for 2 years, in comparison to that in a nontreated group of healthy controls.Fourteen patients with AS and 14 healthy controls underwent carotid sonography to measure intima-media thickness (IMT) and to evaluate the presence of plaque. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index scores, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, glycemia, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were also recorded.Patients with AS showed significantly lower values of mean and maximum IMT at the level of the common carotid (P = .02 and .04, respectively) and the carotid bulb (P = .0006 and .0005, respectively) compared to those of healthy controls. They also had a number of carotid plaques significantly lower than that of healthy controls (P = .02). No differences were found in IMT values at the level of internal carotid between the 2 populations.The significantly lower carotid atherosclerosis found in patients with AS treated with TNF antagonists than in healthy controls shows the important complementary role of this treatment in reducing vascular disease progression probably by decreasing inflammation.

Indexed as

AgedAtherosclerosisBlood GlucoseBlood SedimentationCarotid ArteriesCarotid Artery DiseasesCarotid Intima-Media ThicknessCholesterolC-Reactive ProteinDisease ProgressionFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansMaleMiddle AgedSeverity of Illness IndexBlood GlucoseCholesterolC-Reactive ProteinTriglyceridesTumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Identifiers

PMID29979389
PMCPMC6076036
OpenAlexW2810641451

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.