Psoriasis Linked to Greater Need for Cardiovascular Interventions

Patients with psoriasis and co-morbid hypertension were more likely to need cardiovascular procedures and surgery compared with those with only hypertension, according to the findings of a recent study.

In the study, the researchers identified 4039 individuals with psoriasis and hypertension who were enrolled in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database and followed them for an average of 5.62 years. Individuals with psoriasis were matched by age and sex in a 1:1 ratio to individuals with hypertension but without psoriasis. The researchers assessed the association between psoriasis and the need for cardiovascular procedure and surgery using Cox proportional hazards models.
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The researchers found that psoriasis was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular interventions among individuals with hypertension (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.28, 95% CI 1.07-1.53). When using no psoriasis as a reference group, they found that women had higher aHR compared with men, and individuals aged 50 to 64 years had higher aHR compared with younger and older age groups.

In addition, individuals with severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis had higher risks for cardiovascular procedure and surgery compared with those with mild disease (aHR 1.22, 95% CI 0.98-1.51), as well as those without psoriatic arthritis (aHR 1.15, 95% CI 0.84-1.58). However, this finding did not reach statistical significance.

“Patients with hypertension and psoriasis had a greater requirement for cardiovascular interventions than hypertensive patients without psoriasis,” the researchers concluded. “More intense assessments for cardiovascular interventions may be necessary in patients with concurrent hypertension and psoriasis than general hypertension patients.”

Reference

Chiu HY, Chang WL, Shiu MN, Huang WF, Tsai TF. Psoriasis is associated with a greater risk for cardiovascular procedure and surgery in patients with hypertension: A nationwide cohort study [published online October 16, 2018]. J Dermatol. https://doi.org/10.1111/1346-8138.14654