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Patients with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis at greater risk for developing arrhythmia

Patients with psoriasis, and particularly those with psoriatic arthritis, were at increased risk of developing arrhythmia, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, according to recently published study results.

Researchers conducted a population-based cohort study and used the Taiwan Health Insurance Research Database to identify 40,367 patients with psoriasis and 162,548 people without psoriasis (controls) from 2004 to 2006. The patients and controls were matched by age, sex, history of coronary artery disease, hypertension and diabetes. Patients with a history of arrhythmia were excluded.

At baseline, patients with psoriasis had higher rates of heart failure, hyperlipidemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea, obesity and thyroid dysfunction. Patients with psoriasis had an increased risk of overall arrhythmia, after adjusting for medical history and mediation use (HR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.29-1.39). In all subgroups of the psoriasis cohort, the risks of arrhythmia were higher, including patients with severe psoriasis (HR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.12-1.39) and mild psoriasis (HR = 1.35; 95% CI, 1.3-1.41), as well as patients with psoriatic arthritis (HR = 1.46; 95% CI, 1.22-1.74) and without psoriatic arthritis (HR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.28-1.39).

“These findings may indicate that psoriasis can be added to future risk stratification scores for arrhythmia,” the researchers concluded. “Moreover, these results indicate that patients with psoriasis, especially young patients and those with [psoriatic arthritis], should be more closely screened for various types of arrhythmia.” – By Bruce Thiel

Disclosure: Chiu reports no relevant financial disclosures. See the study for a full list of the other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.