Stroke Risk is Elevated in SLE Patients

The risk of ischemic stroke in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is more than double that of the general population, and were especially high within the first year after SLE diagnosis, according to the results of a recent study.

For their study, the researchers identified patients with SLE from the Swedish National Patient Register (n=3390) and comparators from the general population matched on age, sex, and county (n=16,730).
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Overall, 126 strokes occurred in patients with SLE, and 304 occurred in the general population. Compared with the general population, patients with SLE had a 2-fold increased rate of ischemic stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 2.2). The researchers also observed an increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (HR 1.4) in patients with SLE, compared with the general population.

The highest HRs occurred in women and individuals younger than 50 years, and the HR for ischemic stroke was highest in the first year after diagnosis of SLE (HR 3.7).

“The relative risk of ischemic stroke in SLE was more than doubled compared with the general population, and importantly, the highest relative risks were observed within the first year after SLE diagnosis. Thus, the first encounter with patients presents an opportunity for rheumatologists to screen for risk factors and intervene.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Arkema EV, Svenungsson E, Von Euler M, Sjowall C, Simard JF. Stroke in systemic lupus erythematosus: a Swedish population-based cohort study [published online April 11, 2017]. Ann Rhem Dis. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-210973.