Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Coronary Artery Calcification in Adults With Polymyositis and Dermatomyositis: A Danish Multicenter Study

• Published in: Arthritis care & research (2010) 2015-06, Vol.67 (6), p.848-854
• Main Authors: Diederichsen, Louise P., Diederichsen, Axel C. P., Simonsen, Jane A., Junker, Peter, Søndergaard, Klaus, Lundberg, Ingrid E., Tvede, Niels, Gerke, Oke, Christensen, Anne F., Dreyer, Lene, Petersen, Henrik, Ejstrup, Leif, Kay, Susan D., Jacobsen, Søren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Calcification; Calcification (ectopic); Cardiovascular diseases; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Computed tomography; Coronary Angiography - methods; Coronary artery; Coronary Artery Disease - diagnostic imaging; Coronary Artery Disease - epidemiology; Coronary vessels; Cross-Sectional Studies; Denmark - epidemiology; Dermatomyositis; Dermatomyositis - diagnosis; Dermatomyositis - epidemiology; Diabetes mellitus; Female; Heart diseases; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Polymyositis; Polymyositis - diagnosis; Polymyositis - epidemiology; Prevalence; Prognosis; Registries; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Severity of Illness Index; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Smoking - epidemiology; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Triglycerides; Vascular Calcification - diagnostic imaging; Vascular Calcification - epidemiology
• ISSN: 2151-464X; 2151-4658; 2151-4658
• DOI: 10.1002/acr.22520

Objective To determine the occurrence of traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in adults with polymyositis (PM) or dermatomyositis (DM) compared to healthy controls and to assess the association between CV risk factors, PM/DM, and CAC score. Methods Traditional CV risk factors were assessed in a cross‐sectional, observational study of 76 patients with PM/DM and in 48 sex‐ and age‐matched healthy controls. CAC was quantified by means of cardiac computed tomography scan and expressed in Agatston units. The associations between CV risk factors, PM/DM, and CAC were studied by multivariate analyses. Results Thirty‐three percent of the patients were obese compared to 11% of the controls (P = 0.005). Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were more frequent in patients (71% versus 42%; P = 0.002, and 13% versus 0%; P = 0.007), and patients had higher levels of triglycerides (P = 0.0009). High CAC score occurred more frequently in patients (20% versus 4%; P = 0.04). In multivariate analysis of patient factors associated with CAC were age (P = 0.02) and smoking (P = 0.02). Conclusion In this study, traditional CV risk factors and severe CAC were commonly found in patients with PM/DM. However, severe CAC was not associated with PM/DM per se, but rather with age and smoking in these patients.