The prevalence of abnormal pulse wave velocity, pulse contour analysis and ankle-brachial index in patients with livedo reticularis: A controlled study

Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of abnormal pulse wave velocity (PWV), pulse contour analysis (PCA) and abnormal ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI) in patients with livedo reticularis (livedo) and without livedo. Methods. We recruited 74 patients, of whom 41 had livedo: 16 APS, 9 APS with SLE and 16 with livedo (negative for aPL or lupus). The other group of 33 patients without livedo consisted of 10 APS, 8 APS with SLE and 15 with SLE only. Livedo was diagnosed and confirmed by a dermatologist. PWV was assessed in fasting patients by the Micro Medical PulseTrace analyser using a 4MHz continuous-wave directional Doppler probe and digital PCA was analysed by Micro Medical PulseTrace by the same operator. Chisquare with Yates's correction was used for comparing results. Results. The median age of the livedo patients was 46 (29-71) years and of the non-livedo patients was 45 (25-68) years. Abnormal values of PWV in 10/41 (24.40%), ABPI in 4/41 (9.8%) and PCA in 10/41 (24.40%) patients were observed in the livedo group and in the non-livedo group abnormal values of PWV in 1/33 (P≤0.025), ABPI in 0/33 (P = NS) and PCA in 5/33 (P = NS) were observed. Conclusion. Patients with livedo reticularis are more likely to have abnormal PWV, indicating arterial stiffness.