cardiovascular disease

Some SLE Patients At Higher Risk for CVD

Black patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have the highest rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a recent study.

The study included 65,788 patients with SLE aged 18 to 65 years who were enrolled in the Medicaid Analytic eXtract (2000-2010) for at least 12 months. The researchers followed patients until their first CVD event, death, disenrollment, or the end of the study period. Race/ethnicity-specific rates for annual CVD events were calculated and compared between racial/ethnic groups.
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Approximately 42% of the patients identified in the study were black, 38% were white, 16% were Hispanic, 3% were Asian, and 1% were American Indian/Alaska Native. The majority of patients included in the study were female.

Over the mean 3.8 years of follow-up, the researchers found that black patients had the highest CVD event rate, and Asian patients had the lowest. Black patients had a higher risk for CVD events compared with white patients after the researchers adjusted for baseline comorbidities and demographics.

The lowest risk for myocardial infarction (MI) was among Hispanic patients and Asian patients. However, black patients and Hispanic patients had the highest risk for stroke.

“Among SLE patients enrolled in Medicaid, MI risk was lower among Hispanics and Asians, while stroke risk was elevated among blacks and Hispanics compared to whites,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Barbhaiya M, Feldman CH, Guan H, et al. Race/ethnicity and cardiovascular events among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus [published online June 9, 2017]. Arthritis Rheum. doi:10.1002/art.40174.