Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Psoriasis: Relation to Inflammation Assessed by the Severity and Duration of Illness

Background: Recent studies have shown that psoriasis is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Objectives: To evaluate the epidemiological profile of patients with psoriasis, focusing on the risk factors for CVDs and inflammation. Materials & Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of psoriasis who were attended at the dermatology outpatient clinic of a university hospital were evaluated. Results: 229 adult patients of mean age 50 years, among whom 52% were male, were evaluated. Twenty patients (8.7%) were concomitantly affected by psoriatic arthritis. From analysis on laboratory tests from 177 patients, we saw that 111 (62.7%) were dyslipidemic and that among these, only 9 (8%) were undergoing treatment. 35.6% presented abnormal glycemia tests, but 22% were not having any treatment for the glycemic alteration observed. We analyzed possible associations of the severity of psoriasis and length of time with the disease with lipid disorders, glycemic disorders and systemic arterial hypertension, but did not find any significant associations. Conclusion: The findings observed in this study corroborate previous findings in similar studies, thus demonstrating that the prevalence of risk factors for CVDs among patients with psoriasis is greater than in the general population, but that a large proportion of such patients do not undergo treatment for this. We did not find any possible association between the inflammatory process and the genesis of risk factors for CVDs, although the magnitude of this evidence is not strong. These findings serve to alert dermatologists to remain attentive to these factors, among patients with psoriasis.