*Statistical Analysis*

A licensed Statistica 13.0 program (StatSoft, Tulsa, OK, USA) was used for statistical analysis. The assessment of normal distribution was performed using the Shapiro–Wilk test. The analysis of quantitative data was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test. For the analysis of qualitative data, the *X*<sup>2</sup> test was used; if the subgroup size was small, the Yates correction was applied. The evaluation of the relationship between the analyzed parameters was performed using univariable logistic regression model analysis and was adjusted for potentially distorting data (age, gender, diagnosed hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and cigarette smoking). Statistical significance was set at a *p* ≤ 0.05.

#### **3. Results**
