Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Cardiovascular Risk in Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus
Arthritis Care Res; ePub 2016 Mar 25; Singh, Crowson, et al
Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) may be associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) and peripheral artery disease (PAD), but not ischemic heart disease (IHD). This according to a study of 155 patients with CLE (median age at diagnosis 48 years, 65% female, median BMI 26.3 kg/m2, 40% smokers, 9% with diabetes). Researchers found:
• During a median 14.6 years follow-up, 41 patients with CLE developed cardiovascular events (15 with CVA, 32 with IHD), with a 20-year cumulative incidence of 31.6%.
• Smoking-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for CVA was 2.97 vs patients without CLE.
• PAD (HR=2.06) was also increased in patients with CLE, but risk of IHD was not increased (HR=0.94).
• There was no increase in cardiovascular mortality (HR=1.68).
• The magnitude of risk for any cardiovascular outcome was not significantly influenced by extent of cutaneous involvement.
Citation: Singh AG, Crowson CS, Singh S, et al. Risk of cerebrovascular accidents and ischemic heart disease in cutaneous lupus erythematosus: A population-based cohort study. [Published online ahead of print March 25, 2016]. Arthritis Care Res. doi:10.1002/acr.22892.