Association of Coronary Artery Disease with Psoriasis in a Group of Jordanian Patients

Abstract

Objective: To study the association between psoriasis and coronary artery disease, and to compare the rate of coronary artery disease in a group of Jordanian patients with moderate to severe psoriasis to that in a group of non-psoriatic patients. Methods: This retrospective review was conducted at King Hussein Medical Center (AmmanJordan) and Prince Ali Bin Alhussein Hospital (Karak-Jordan). Data were collected from March 2008 to October 2012. Psoriasis group included 157 Jordanian patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, while control group included 183 non-psoriatic, Jordanian patients. Patients in both groups were matched by age, sex, and risk factors of coronary artery disease (smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and family history of coronary artery disease). Rate of coronary artery disease in psoriasis group was compared to that in non-psoriasis group. Results: The rates and P-value of coronary artery disease risk factors in psoriasis group compared to controls were as follows: mean age (42.2 y, 37.6 y, 0.03), male gender (64.9%, 61.2%, 0.05), smoking (62.4%, 58.5%, 0.43), hypertension (39.5%, 41.5%, 0.27), diabetes (38.2%, 37.7%, 0.31), hyperlipidemia (18.4%, 17.5%, 0.44) and family history of coronary artery disease (33.1%, 31.1%, 0.04). After matching for these risk factors, the rate of coronary artery disease in psoriasis group, and in controls was 7.0%, and 1.6%, respectively, with P-value<0.001. Conclusion: Even after matching for other risk factors, the rate of coronary artery disease is still higher in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis than in patients without psoriasis. So, moderate to severe psoriasis is independently associated with coronary artery disease.