Subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with mild SLE appears to progress similarly to that in the general population, underlining the importance of managing cardiovascular risk factors, researchers say.

The reassuring findings from a small, longitudinal study suggest it’s possible to monitor and implement preventive strategies to temper the excess risk that leads to cardiovascular events being the main cause of death among patients with lupus, they say.

It has previously been unclear whether vascular ageing in SLE follows a similar path to ‘normal’ vascular ageing, they write.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, have examined the progress of subclinical artherosclerosis in a cohort of patients with lupus (mean age 47) and matched controls enrolled in the SLE Vascular Impact Cohort (SLEVIC) study, using carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaques as surrogate measures.