Prevalence of smoking and clinical characteristics in fibromuscular dysplasia. The ARCADIA-POL study.

Smoking was identified as a potential factor contributing to fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). To evaluate the prevalence of smoking and clinical characteristics in FMD subjects. We analysed 190 patients with confirmed FMD in at least one vascular bed. The rate of smokers in FMD patients was compared to that in two control groups selected from a nationwide survey. The rate of smokers in FMD patients was 42.6%. There were no differences in frequency of smokers between FMD patients and: a group of 994 matched control subjects from general population and a group of matched hypertensive subjects. There were no differences in the characteristics of FMD (including rates of multisite FMD and significant renal artery stenosis) and its complications (including rates of dissections and aneurysms) between smokers and non-smokers. Smokers as compared with non-smokers were characterized by higher left ventricle mass index. There is no difference in the rate of smokers between FMD patients and subjects from the general population. Moreover, we did not find any association between smoking and clinical characteristics of FMD patients nor its extent and vascular complications. Our results do not support the hypothesis that smoking is involved in the pathophysiology of FMD.