Higher prevalence of pulse pressure in psoriatic arthritis patients

BackgroundThere is an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) compared with the general population due to higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors (1). Pulse pressure (PP) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (2). Currently, there are no studies about PP in PsA patients.ObjectivesTo compare PP between PsA patients and healthy controls.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional, observational, and comparative study. A total of 74 PsA patients aged 40-75 years old, who fulfilled the 2006 CASPAR criteria were recruited and matched to 74 controls by age (±5 years), gender and comorbidities. Patients with history of a previous cardiovascular event or pregnancy were excluded from this study. Blood pressure and PP was measured according to current guidelines.Distribution was evaluated with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Comparisons were done with Chi-square test for qualitative variables and Student´s t test and Mann-Whitney’s U test for quantitative variables. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsThere were no differences regarding demographic characteristics between groups. When comparing the arterial measures, a statistically significant difference was found in the PP, which was higher in the PsA group [45.00 mmHg (40.00-56.50) vs 42.50 mmHg (38.00-50.00), p=0.024], and in the systolic arterial pressure, higher in PsA patients (131.06 ± 18.27 mmHg vs 123.02 ± 14.27 mmHg, p=0.003) (Table 1).Table 1.Demographic characteristics of the patients.CharacteristicsPsA patients(n=74)Controls(n=74)P ValueAge, mean ± SD55.08±7.6154.94±7.45NSFemale gender, n (%)41 (55.40)41 (55.40)NSObesity, n (%)47 (63.51)48 (64.86)NST2DM, n (%)58 (78.37)56 (75.67)NSHypertension, n (%)48 (64.86)44 (59.45)NSDyslipidemia, n (%)44 (59.45)46 (62.16)NSActive smoking, n (%)49 (66.21)53 (71.62)NSSAP, mean ± SD131.06±18.27123.02±14.270.003DAP, mean ± SD81.06±11.1279.13±9.69NSPP, median (p25-p75)45.00 (40.00-56.50)42.50 (38.00-50.00)0.024PsA, psoriatic arthritis; NS, non-significant; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus; SAP, systolic arterial pressure; DAP, diastolic arterial pressure; PP, pulse pressure.ConclusionPsA patients presented higher measures of PP compared to healthy controls. This suggests that PsA patients could have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. It is recommended to consider PP as an important parameter when evaluating CVR in PsA patients. Further studies are necessary to validate these results.References[1]Jamnitski A, Symmons D, Peters MJL, Sattar N, Mcilnnes I, Nurmohamed MT. Cardiovascular comorbidities in patients with psoriatic arthritis: A systematic review. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013;72(2):211–6.[2]Asmar R, Safar ME, Queneau P. Pulse pressure: An important tool in cardiovascular pharmacology and therapeutics. Drugs. 2003;63(10):927–32.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared