Cardiovascular Risk in Myositis Patients Compared to the General Population: Preliminary Data From a Single-Center...

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Cardiology
• Internal Medicine

Background:

• Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are linked to systemic inflammation, reduced mobility, and glucocorticoid use, potentially increasing cardiovascular (CV) risk.
• These factors can contribute to metabolic disturbances and atherogenesis, necessitating CV risk assessment in IIM patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate cardiovascular risk in IIM patients compared to healthy controls (HC).
• To investigate the association between CV risk and disease-specific features in IIM.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-nine IIM patients and 39 age-/sex-matched HC were included, excluding those with prior CV disease.
• Assessments included carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV), ankle-brachial index (ABI), body composition, and CV risk scores (e.g., SCORE).
• Disease activity and damage were evaluated using validated indices.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in blood pressure, ABI, PWV, CIMT, or SCORE-based CV risk were found between IIM patients and HC.
• Existing scoring tools (SCORE, SCORE2, mSCORE) did not accurately predict CV risk when considering carotid plaque presence and CIMT.
• Age, disease duration, disease activity, systemic inflammation, lipid profile, lean body mass, and blood pressure were significant predictors of CV risk in IIM.

Conclusions:

• Cardiovascular risk factors did not significantly differ between IIM patients and HC in this cohort.
• In IIM, CV risk is associated with disease duration, glucocorticoid therapy duration, lipid profile, and body composition.
• Current CV risk scoring tools are not sufficiently accurate for IIM patients.