Patients Take Ankylosing Spondylitis to Heart

July 11, 2018

Be vigilant for cardiovascular risk factors in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, advise Norwegian researchers.

Reference1. MidtbÃ¸ H, Gerdts E, Berg IJ, et al. Ankylosing spondylitis is associated with increased prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy. J Rheumatol. 2018 Jun 1. pii: jrheum.171124. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.171124. [Epub ahead of print].

MidtbÃ¸ and colleagues in Norway found an increased prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) among patients with ankylosing spondylitis-independent of other cardiovascular (CV) risk factors.¹

Scroll through the slides for the details of the study and the take-home points for physicians.

(Image credit: ©martan/Shutterstock.com)

LVH, left ventricular hypertrophy.

AS, ankylosing spondylitis.

AS, ankylosing spondylitis; CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; LVH, left ventricular hypertrophy; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Subjects with AS had more eccentric LVH, while control subjects had more concentric LVH. There was no difference in the rate of valvular disease between the two groups.