WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has revealed an increased incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death, in patients with severe psoriasis. The study results were reported Monday at the annual American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans.
Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease, and if severe, has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, the degree to which psoriasis is associated with MACE has not been defined.
In a cohort study analyzing data from a general practice research database, Lead author Nehal Mehta, director of Inflammatory Risk in Penn's Preventive Cardiology program, and colleagues reviewed the case histories of over 3,600 patients with severe psoriasis and 14,300 controls. They found that patients with severe psoriasis have a 53 percent increased incidence of MACE compared to the general population. They also found that having a diagnosed case of severe psoriasis confers an additional ten-year risk of six percent on MACE.
Previous work from Mehta and colleagues found that the risk of death from cardiovascular disease increased by 57 percent in patients with severe psoriasis. In addition, the relative risk of death from cardiovascular disease was even higher in younger patients, who were as young as age 40.
The researchers conclude that this new estimate of increased ten-year MACE may warrant more aggressive strategies for treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriasis.