title: Increased risk of aortic aneurysm (AA) in relation to the severity of psoriasis: A national population-based matched-cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inflammation of systemic and vascular tissues besides the skin in psoriasis is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to investigate whether or not patients with psoriasis have an increased risk of aortic aneurysm (AA).
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based cohort study identified 34,301 patients with psoriasis in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database during 2004 to 2006, who were matched for age and sex with 137,204 control subjects without psoriasis from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. Each individual was individually followed up for 5 years to identify those who subsequently developed AA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for medical history and medication use, patients with psoriasis were at increased overall risk of AA (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.80; 95% confidence interval 1.25-2.61). The risk for AA increased with the severity of psoriasis. The adjusted HRs were higher for male than female patients (adjusted HR 1.84 vs 1.56), and for patients younger than 50 years versus older patients (adjusted HR 2.81 vs 1.64).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a lack of information regarding patients' Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score, daily tobacco use, or alcohol consumption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with psoriasis are predisposed to developing AA: this risk increases with psoriasis severity and is independent of established cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine and College of Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsien-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Welfare Policy, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Po-Ching
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Welfare Policy, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Weng-Foung
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Welfare Policy, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: tftsai@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tsen-Fang
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: National Health Insurance Research Database; aortic aneurysm; cardiovascular diseases; comorbidities; inflammation; psoriasis