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PO:08:213 Early vascular changes in a paediatric CTD cohort – results from LEAP

lupusscimed · 2026-03-01 · canonical JSON source

14 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Objectives The Lupus Extended Autoimmune Phenotype (LEAP) cohort is a multi-centre, prospective study in the UK focusing on patients with various connective tissue diseases (CTDs), including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), dermatomyositis (DM) or Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Adult patients with lupus have a 7-10-fold increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). This is not yet quantified in paediatric patients. Aortic-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and aortic stiffness index are some of the simplest, non-invasive tools for the diagnosis and risk stratification of CVD.Methods Participants from a tertiary paediatric centre were enrolled, including patients with CTD, as well as age-sex-matched controls from non-inflammatory physiotherapy clinics. Patients had aortic femoral PWV and aortic stiffness index measured using a Tensiomed arteriography. Sociodemographic data, symptomatology, antibody profiles, treatment data were described ( table 1).Results 24 paediatric LEAP patients (20 with SLE, 2 with DM, 2 with uCTD) and 9 healthy controls were studied. Median age of the disease group was 14 years old with female predominance (79%) and 46% (n=11) were White. The median disease duration was 2.66 years. 87% (n=22) of patients were ANA positive at time of data collection, 62% (n=15) were dsDNA positive. Constitutional symptoms were the commonest clinical features, whilst 50% of the cohort reported arthritis and Raynaud’s. Nearly half of the CTD patients have haematological abnormalities. At the time of recruitment, 91% (n=22) were on DMARDs and 25% (n=6) were on biologics. 45% (n=11) were on steroid, making the steroid burden very high. The patients’ PWV was 6.7, compared to 6.5 in controls. Their aortic stiffness index was 7.9, and 3.85 in the control group respectively.Abstract PO:08:213 Table 1Conclusions We describe a cohort of paediatrics CTDs including JSLE, JDM and uCTD which have moderate to severe disease a with high antibody profiles and organ manifestations. There was no difference between PWV in the patient versus control groups. The aortic stiffness index was significantly higher in the patient group (p-value= 0.031) than control which may be indicative of early atherosclerosis change in the early paediatric CTDs. Additional multi centre studies are required to confirm and expand upon these findings regarding early cardiovascular risk in paediatric CTDs.