{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T12:58:42Z","timestamp":1781614722030,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":76,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["RMD Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To evaluate the prognostic value of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a marker of aortic stiffness, for cardiovascular events (CVEs) in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) and to compare its performance with the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation 2 (SCORE2).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This retrospective cohort study included patients with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis and spondyloarthritis who underwent clinically indicated baseline non-invasive cfPWV assessment between 2012 and 2017 because of at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor. CV risk was estimated using SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP in eligible patients. Incident CVEs were ascertained through structured interviews over a median 7-year follow-up. Associations were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models and predictive performance using receiver operating characteristic analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Among 143 patients, 20 CVEs occurred. Baseline cfPWV was higher in patients who developed CVEs versus those who did not (10.06\u00b12.16 m\/s vs 8.8\u00b12.3 m\/s; p=0.024). SCORE2 did not differ between groups (6.55\u00b13.90% vs 5.61\u00b14.39%, p=0.35). cfPWV demonstrated strong discriminatory capacity for CVEs (area under the curve (AUC) 0.84; 95% CI (0.73 to 0.93), sensitivity 0.87, specificity 0.73), outperforming SCORE2 (AUC 0.56; 95% CI (0.41 to 0.72), sensitivity 0.60, specificity 0.69). In age-adjusted Cox regression, cfPWV remained a significant predictor of CVEs (HR 1.19, 95% CI (1.00 to 1.39); p=0.047). cfPWV correlated with baseline age (p&lt;0.001), mean arterial pressure (p=0.013) and C reactive protein (p=0.011).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>cfPWV is an independent predictor of future CVEs in patients with ARDs and outperforms SCORE2 in long-term risk prediction. Given its non-invasive nature, cfPWV may provide incremental value for CV risk stratification in this high-risk population.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/rmdopen-2026-006847","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T12:27:08Z","timestamp":1781612828000},"page":"e006847","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity improves cardiovascular risk prediction beyond SCORE2 in autoimmune rheumatic diseases: a 7-year follow-up study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8764-2636","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantinos","family":"Triantafyllias","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 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