Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the skin, nails, and joints. Its lifetime prevelance has been estimated to be at 1% to 3%. This study was designed to examine the association between serum pentraxin 3 (PTX3) and cardiovascular function in psoriatic children. Thirty-three children who were diagnosed with psoriasis, and 29 healthy children, between 4 and 18 years of age, were included in the study. Both patient and control group was evaluated by the pulsed wave tissue doppler imaging (TDI) echocardiography as well as with conventional Doppler echocardiography (CDE). PTX3 values of the groups were evaluated. There was no difference between cases and controls for age (9.67±3.72, 9.60±2.84 years, p=0.916, respectively). In evaluation of the left ventricle (LV) CDE; A wave, isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) and myocardial performance index (MPI) were significantly higher in the study group (p < 0.05). Ejection time (ET) was significantly lower in the study group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). In evaluation of LV TDI; Deceleration time (DT`), IVRT`, E/E` and MPI` were found to be significantly higher in the study group (p < 0.05). In addition to, E`, E`/A` and ET` were siginificantly lower in study group. PTX3 level was significantly higher in the study group compared to the control group (p=0.009) (Table III). However, no correlation was found between PTX3 level and cardiovascular parameters. In conclusion; both doppler echocardiography and PTX3 may be useful tools for the screening of cardiovascular (CV) risk in these patients. Psoriasis itself may be an independent risk factor for cardiac dysfunction in the pediatric population.

Keywords: pediatric, pentraxin 3, psoriasis, tissue doppler echocardiography