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Patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy showed increased risk for mortality
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Patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy had an increased risk for mortality, according to a recently published study that used data from Sweden.
“In this first nationwide, population-based [idiopathic inflammatory myopathy] IIM mortality study, we have demonstrated that IIM indeed is associated with increased mortality,” the researchers wrote. “There has been some discussion regarding whether there is an increased mortality in patients diagnosed with IIM in recent years, but this study leaves little doubt to this question. This study also demonstrates that the mortality is highest within the first year of IIM diagnosis, and it remains more than doubled compared with the general population throughout a follow-up of over 10 years, although the increased relative risk was not statistically significant after 10 years.”
Investigators assessed 716 patients with IIM and 7,100 individuals from the general population. Overall, there was a mortality rate of 60 per 1,000 person-years for IIM and 20 per 1,000 person-years for the control group. The risk of death increased for IIM vs. the general population (hazard ratio = 3.7). After adjustment for time since diagnosis, the risk increased (hazard ratio = 9.6). After 10 years, however, the ratio plateaued around 2, which was not significant. The most common causes of death were malignancies and diseases related to the circulatory and respiratory systems. – by Will Offit
Disclosures: One author reports receiving grants from Astra-Zeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb and receiving consultancies from Bristol-Myers Squibb and IDERA pharmaceuticals.
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