Lupus and Vascular Disease: Updates From ACR 2018

Two studies being showcased at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR 2018) annual meeting in Chicago, IL, explore the vascular underpinnings of neuropsychiatric damage as well as the risk of resistant hypertension in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In the first study, Mikdashi at the University of Maryland in Baltimore found that the risk of major neurocognitive disorder-vascular dementia (MCD) is increased in patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) who do not adhere to their medication regimens for SLE and cardiovascular disease.¹ In the second study, Gandelman and fellow researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, discovered that patients with SLE are almost twice as likely to develop resistant hypertension compared with control subjects and experience nearly three times the mortality as a result.² Scroll through the slides for details on the two studies and take-home points for clinicians.