ArticleArthritis research & therapy2026
Color Doppler carotid resistance, pulsatility, and aortic oscillometry indices in giant cell arteritis: insights from the VASCARD cohort.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo assess a combination of novel color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS), greyscale ultrasound (GSUS), and oscillometric indices of macroangiopathy and (CV) risk in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA). Additionally, to explore the relationships between these imaging markers and both patient-specific and disease-related characteristics, as well as traditional CV risk factors.
methodsCDUS was performed to evaluate arterial compliance markers, specifically the resistance (RI) and pulsatility (PI) indices, in both the common (CCA) and internal carotid artery (ICA) of GCA patients and healthy controls. GSUS examinations were conducted to measure carotid intima-media-thickness (cIMT), identify plaques, and quantify cumulative carotid calcification surface. Oscillometry was utilized to determine aortic stiffness via carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (cfPWV).
resultsSixty-six GCA patients and 93 healthy subjects were included. Patients showed significantly higher cfPWV (padj <0.001), cIMT (padj =0.037), CCA-PI (padj =0.009), CCA-RI (padj=0.019), and plaque-area (p < 0.001) compared with controls. cfPWV correlated with traditional CV risk factors, like age (rho = 0.330, p < 0.009), mean-arterial-pressure (rho = 0.257, p = 0.044), and cholesterol (rho = 0.318, p = 0.017). CCA-PI and -RI were lower in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy [1.5 (1.33–2.04) vs. 1.95 (1.72–2.29); 0.74 (0.68–0.82) vs. 0.80 (0.76–0.85), both; p < 0.05], and CCA-RI was predicted by erythrocyte-sedimentation-rate (rho = 0.343, p = 0.044). cIMT correlated with age (r = 0.619, p < 0.001) and plaque area (rho = 0.305, p = 0.047).
conclusionGCA patients demonstrated increased carotid pulsatility, resistance, atherosclerosis, and aortic stiffness compared to controls. Moreover, key predictors of impaired CV and cerebrovascular surrogates were identified. The combined assessment of CDUS and GSUS could provide a more thorough evaluation of the arterial tree, thereby enhancing the overall assessment of macroangiopathy.
trial registrationDRKS00031470.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.