Psoriatic arthritis patients’ cardiovascular risks aren’t spurring increased management

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. – Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) receive risk factor management and follow-up for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) that is similar to the population at large, according to research presented in a poster session at the annual meeting of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN).

The researchers found that patients with PsA in their single-center study did not receive more intensive management and follow-up despite having a higher risk score for ASCVD. This may be caused in part by the fact that there are no specific guidelines for ASCVD management in patients with PsA, according to study authors Linh Truong, MD, and Nicole Ridolfi, DO, internal medicine residents at the University of California, Irvine.

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Nicole Ridolfi (left) and Linh Truong

Even though this study and others have shown that patients with psoriatic arthritis have a higher risk for ASCVD, “currently, patients with PsA are being managed exactly the same way as everyone else,” Dr. Truong said.

In addition to assessing ASCVD morbidity in patients with PsA, Dr. Truong and Dr. Ridolfi also wanted to investigate how management of the known ASCVD risk in these patients in a primary care settings compared with national guidelines. Their research came in two parts. In the first part, they calculated 10-year ASCVD risk using a risk score estimator from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology. They then calculated an odds ratio for relevant atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events, such as MI, heart failure, and cerebrovascular accidents. In the second part, they evaluated how the risk factors for ASCVD in patients with PsA were managed in the primary care setting.

The researchers compared data from a single center for 103 patients – 61 with PsA and 42 matching controls. Patients in both groups had an average age in the mid-60s, an average body mass index above 29 kg/m², and were also mostly male (four patients with PsA were female) and mostly white.

Patients with PsA had an average ASCVD risk score of 21.2, compared with a score of 16.5 in the control arm (P less than .0001).