TOPLINE

Myocardial dysfunction was more than twice as prevalent in adults with psoriasis ranging from mild to severe than in control individuals, a study found.

METHODOLOGY

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1010 adults with psoriasis (median age, 54 years; 45.3% women) from the prospective PSOCADIA cohort in Denmark between September 2021 and October 2024.
• Participants were age- and sex-matched to control individuals without psoriasis and assessed on the basis of BMI, blood pressure, heart rate, nonfasting blood samples for proteins, and echocardiography.
• Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, valvular disease, systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and myocardial dysfunction defined by global longitudinal strain (GLS) < 16% were evaluated.
• Associations between psoriasis and echocardiographic abnormalities were assessed after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, tobacco use, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

TAKEAWAY

• The most common isolated echocardiographic abnormality was abnormal GLS (10.1%), followed by diastolic dysfunction (7.2%), reduced LV ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50% (6.0%), and LV hypertrophy (2.2%).
• Adults with psoriasis had a higher prevalence of abnormal GLS (16.7% vs 6.0%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.48; P < .001) and reduced tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion than control individuals (16.2% vs 2.5%; aOR, 7.71; P < .001).
• The prevalence of abnormal GLS was similar between those with mild-to-moderate and those with severe psoriasis (16.1% vs 17.0%, P = .74), indicating that myocardial dysfunction occurred across all disease severity levels.
• Diastolic dysfunction was similar in both groups (10.0% vs 10.5%, respectively; P = .69), as was LVEF < 50% (11.7% vs 12.1%; P = .79).

IN PRACTICE

“Individuals with psoriasis exhibited more cardiometabolic risk factors and myocardial dysfunction by abnormal GLS than controls, independent of traditional CV [cardiovascular] risk factors,” the study authors wrote. “Myocardial dysfunction was similarly prevalent across psoriasis severity. The clinical significance of these findings warrants further investigation,” they added.

SOURCE

The study was led by Maria Dons, Cardiovascular Non-Invasive Imaging Research Laboratory, Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital – Herlev & Gentofte, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. It was published online on July 17 in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional design precluded causal inference, and residual confounding could not be excluded. Unmeasured factors, including physical activity, diet, socioeconomic status, obstructive sleep apnea, and medication use, may have affected the findings. Generalizability was limited by single-region recruitment, and healthy volunteer bias may have influenced the results.

DISCLOSURES

The PSOCADIA study received funding from Karen Elise Jensen’s Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Several authors reported consulting fees, lecture fees, advisory roles, or research support from pharmaceutical and healthcare companies including AbbVie, Almirall, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB, and others. Full disclosures are noted in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.