Cardiovascular Damage in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Develops Early and Persists Throughout Disease: BMJ

• In the second and third years, new damage was observed in 11% and 9% of patients, respectively. After the fifth year, the annual percentage of patients with new damage declined to 5%.

• During the first year of the disease, most damage occurred in the musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, and renal systems. In later stages, the musculoskeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular systems were predominantly affected.

• When including ‘cerebrovascular accident’ and ‘claudication for 6 months’ as cardiovascular items, the cardiovascular system emerged as the second most affected system in the early stages of SLE, with 19% of patients who presented with damage being affected in the first year after diagnosis.

• In the later stages, 20-25% of patients presenting with new damage were affected in this modified cardiovascular domain of the SDI.

“The researchers concluded that cardiovascular damage occurs during the first year after the diagnosis of SLE. Strategies need to be adopted to prevent organ damage and cardiovascular diseases at early and late stages,”, researchers concluded.

Reference

Altabás-González, I., Rua-Figueroa, I., Mouriño, C., Roberts, K., Jimenez, N., Martinez-Barrio, J., Galindo, M., Calvo Alén, J., Pérez, V. D. C., Uriarte Itzazelaia, E., Tomero, E., Freire-González, M., Martínez Taboada, V., Salgado, E., Vela, P., Fernandez-Nebro, A., Olivé, A., Narváez, J., Menor-Almagro, R., Soler, G. S., … Pego-Reigosa, J. M. (2024). Damage in a large systemic lupus erythematosus cohort from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry (RELESSER) with emphasis on the cardiovascular system: a longitudinal analysis. Lupus science & medicine, 11(2), e001064. https://doi.org/10.1136/lupus-2023-001064