Table 3. Demographic and clinical characteristics according to cardiovascular involvement.

Characteristic	CTD without cardiovascular involvement (n = 154)	CTD with cardiovascular involvement (n = 282)	p value
Age	46.40 ± 14.73	55.72 ± 14.58	< 0.001
Female	122 (79.2)	228 (80.9)	0.683
Disease duration > 2 yr	28 (18.2)	82 (29.1)	0.012
Smoke exposure	18 (11.7)	30 (10.6)	0.738
Alcohol use	17 (11.0)	31 (11.0)	0.988
Diabetes	9 (5.8)	43 (15.2)	0.004
Hypertension	24 (15.6)	99 (35.1)	< 0.001
Hyperlipidemia	67 (43.5)	143 (50.7)	0.150
ILD	56 (36.4)	164 (58.2)	< 0.001
Alveolar score	0.84 ± 0.80	1.16 ± 0.92	0.021
Interstitial score	0.80 ± 0.75	0.80 ± 0.78	0.972
BMI	21.54 ± 3.23	22.85 ± 3.20	< 0.001
Systolic pressure	122.38 ± 21.59	134.37 ± 22.52	< 0.001
Diastolic pressure	75.44 ± 12.79	78.38 ± 13.50	0.027
CRP	19.07 ± 20.54	23.08 ± 19.20	0.043
Albumin	35.25 ± 6.26	34.69 ± 5.53	0.342
Total cholesterol	4.76 ± 1.50	4.92 ± 1.35	0.251
HDL-C	1.05 ± 0.30	1.10 ± 0.37	0.137
LDL-C	2.95 ± 1.23	3.04 ± 1.03	0.381
Triglyceride	1.73 ± 1.04	1.86 ± 1.22	0.279
Glucose	5.06 ± 1.30	5.66 ± 2.00	< 0.001
Uric acid	281.18 ± 108.37	313.48 ± 109.29	0.003
Immune globulin G	16.86 ± 6.50	16.79 ± 7.27	0.920
Antinuclear antibody positive	113 (73.4)	211 (74.8)	0.741
Glucocorticoid use	130 (84.4)	236 (83.7)	0.843
Moderate to high dose	29 (18.8)	83 (29.4)	0.015
Continuous use for > 1 yr	55 (35.7)	119 (42.2)	0.186
Immunosuppressive agent use	142 (92.2)	244 (86.5)	0.075

BMI: body mass index; CRP: C-reactive protein; CTD: connective tissue disease; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; ILD: interstitial lung disease; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Notes: Disease duration measured from the day diagnosed; moderate- to high-dose glucocorticoid: > 1 mg/kg/d prednisone; glucocorticoid use at anytime for > 2 wk; data are presented as mean ± standard deviation or as n (%).