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Background: Several studies have demonstrated the presence of an association between androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with AGA and healthy controls by the incorporation of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) along with echocardiography (ECHO) and exercise electrocardiography (ExECG)., Methods: We performed a case-control study in 50 male patients with AGA and 31 age-matched healthy male controls with normal hair status. Both the AGA patients and controls with a history of diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, hypertension, cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease, and renal failure were excluded. AGA was classified according to the Hamilton-Norwood scale. Serum lipids, serum hs-CRP, total testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate were examined in all study subjects. Carotid ultrasonography was used to measure the IMT of the common carotid arteries (CCA). ECHO and ExECG were performed in all subjects., Results: IMT of the CCA was found to be significantly higher in patients with severe vertex pattern AGA when compared to patients with other patterns of AGA and healthy controls (P < 0.05). Hs-CRP in patients with any group of AGA was not significantly different from those healthy controls (P > 0.05). ECHO showed that cardiac structural and functional measures were in normal ranges. ExECG was also normal in all subjects., Conclusion: Severe vertex pattern AGA should be considered to have an increased risk of subclinical atherosclerosis. For this reason, CCA IMT measurement can be recommended as a non-invasive and early diagnostic method.

Background: Psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis. This study compared subclinical atherosclerosis of the carotid and brachial arteries in psoriasis vulgaris patients and healthy controls using high-resolution ultrasonography., Methods: We studied 43 psoriasis patients and 43 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and nitroglycerin-induced dilatation (NTD) of the brachial artery and intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid arteries (CCA) were measured ultrasonographically. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, renal failure, a history of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease were exclusion criteria. Subjects who were receiving lipid-lowering therapy, antihypertensive or anti-aggregant drugs, nitrates or long-term systemic steroids were also excluded., Results: The mean IMT values of the right, left and averaged CCA of the psoriasis patients were significantly higher, compared with the controls (0.607+/-0.144 mm vs. 0.532+/-0.101 mm, 0.611+/-0.157 mm vs. 0.521+/-0.117 mm, and 0.609+/-0.146 mm vs. 0.526+/-0.104 mm; P=0.006, P=0.003 and P=0.003, respectively). The mean FMD and NTD values of the psoriasis patients were significantly lower, compared with the controls (13.36+/-6.39 mm vs. 19.60+/-11.23 mm and 21.08+/-8.38 mm vs. 26.85+/-12.38 mm; P=0.002 and P=0.013, respectively). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant association between psoriasis and the IMT, FMD and NTD. Moreover, the FMD in psoriasis patients was associated with disease duration., Conclusion: Psoriasis patients had impaired endothelial function and thicker IMT of the CCA, compared with the healthy control subjects. The presence of psoriasis was an independent risk factor for subclinical atherosclerosis.

The relation between coronary artery ectasia (CAE) and erectile dysfunction (ED) has not been studied so far. Hence, we decided to investigate the erectile function score in patients with CAE. We investigated the international index of erectile function (IIEF)-5 score in 34 men with CAE, 38 men with coronary artery disease (CAD), and 30 male controls with normal coronary arteries whose mean ages were 53.2±5.6, 51.4±7.8, and 49.6±8.6 years, respectively. Erectile function was evaluated by the five-item version of the IIEF-5. Each question is scored from 0 to 5. CAE was defined as being without any stenotic lesions with a visual assessment of the coronary arteries showing a luminal dilatation 1.5-fold or more of the adjacent normal coronary segments. IIEF-5 scores in CAE group were found statistically significantly lower than the control group (P<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in IIEF-5 scores between CAE and CAD groups (P=0.13). We have shown for the first time that patients with CAE have lower IIEF-5 scores compared with controls with normal coronary angiograms. Many studies reported that endothelial dysfunction in patients with CAE was more dominant than those with CAD. This study suggests that ED and CAE may be different manifestations of a common underlying vascular pathology and vasculogenic ED is frequently seen in CAE at least as much as in CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]