Assessment of vascular stiffness using different modalities in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case control study.

SLE patients have significantly increased arterial stiffness and impaired FMD compared to healthy controls. This is true even after adjusting for hypertension and diabetes mellitus, highlighting the fact that SLE could be an independent cardiovascular risk factor. These findings emphasize the need for early management of SLE together with aggressive risk factor modification.