Spondyloarthritis: a strong predictor of early coronary artery bypass grafting.
OBJECTIVE
The main aim of the study was to examine whether patients with spondyloarthritides underwent their first coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) at a younger age than those without spondyloarthritides.


METHODS
Patients who underwent their first CABG at the Feiring Heart Clinic during 2001-2005 were preoperatively screened for spondyloarthritides, and the cardiological assessment was registered. We compared the characteristics of patients with and without spondyloarthritides.


RESULTS
Of the 3852 patients undergoing their first CABG, 30 (0.78%) had spondyloarthritides. No statistically significant differences in traditional cardiovascular risk factors were found. The mean ages of patients with and without spondyloarthritides were 60.1 (SD = 8.7) and 66.9 (SD = 10.1) years, respectively. Spondyloarthritis was found by multivariate analysis to be a stronger independent predictor of early CABG than traditional cardiovascular risk factors [adjusted beta -6.2, p<0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) -9.5 to -2.8]. Sixty per cent of spondyloarthritis patients and 52% of control patients had already suffered a myocardial infarction (p = 0.4).


CONCLUSIONS
Spondyloarthritis was a stronger predictor of early CABG than most of the registered traditional cardiovascular risk factors. The prevalence of spondyloarthritis seemed to be higher in the CABG population than in the general population. These findings may indicate accelerated coronary artery disease (CAD) in spondyloarthritides.
Hollan
I
I
The Feiring Heart Clinic AS, Feiring, Norway. i-hollan@online.no
Saatvedt
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K
Almdahl
S M
SM
Mikkelsen
K
K
Moer
R
R
Halvorsen
P
P
Veel
T
T
Førre
O T
OT
D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D025241:Spondylarthritis / Q000150:complications*