Myocardial infarction may present in patients with early SLE

Some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus experienced myocardial infarction prior to or shortly after their lupus diagnosis, according to a recently published report.

Researchers studied 1,848 patients in the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinic between 2000 and 2014. Overall, 88.8% of patients were women with a mean age of 34.7 years at diagnosis and a mean disease duration of 5.6 months at study entry.

Of the patients, 31 had a myocardial infarction (MI). Of the 31 patients, 23 had an MI either prior to diagnosis with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or within the first 2 years of diagnosis. A diagnosis of MI was based on Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) criteria. Abnormal stress test, abnormal echocardiogram, abnormal nuclear scan and abnormal angiogram as reported by the treating institution were other factors used to support the diagnosis.

Analysis showed Caucasian ethnicity, male sex, family history of MI, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking and older age at diagnosis of SLE were risk factors for an early MI. No serologic differences were seen between patients who had an early MI and those who did not, including the presence of autoantibodies, low complement or high C-reactive protein levels or erythrocyte sedimentation rates. Use of corticosteroids, antimalarials and immunosuppressive mediations were similar between groups. -by Shirley Pulawski

Source: www.healio.com