Combined Brain-Heart Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease Patients with Cardiac Symptoms: Hypothesis Generating Insights from a Cross-sectional Study.

ABSTRACT: Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) may affect both the heart and the brain. However, little is known about the interaction between these organs in ARD patients. We asked whether brain lesions are more frequent in ARD patients with cardiac symptoms compared with non-ARD patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). 57 ARD patients with mean age of 48 ± 13 years presenting with shortness of breath, chest pain, and/or palpitations, and 30 age-matched disease-controls with non-autoimmune CVD, were evaluated using combined brain-heart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a 1.5T system. 52 (91%) ARD patients and 16 (53%) controls had white matter hyperintensities (p < 0.001) in at least one brain area (subcortical/deep/periventricular white matter, basal ganglia, pons, brainstem, or mesial tempor

SUBMITTER: Markousis-Mavrogenis G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7074384 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature