Risk of coronary artery disease in celiac disease population

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Celiac disease (CD), a chronic autoimmune condition, is associated with systemic inflammation capable of causing extra intestinal manifestations. Chronic inflammatory process has been implicated in the pathogenesis of accelerated atherosclerosis. Studies examining the burden of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with CD are lacking. We evaluated the prevalence of CAD in patients with CD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Electronic health records from different health care systems were obtained utilizing a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant, patient de-identified web application. Among the 48,642,290 patients, 59,010 were diagnosed with CD. The remaining 48,583,280 patients without CD served as comparison controls. RESULTS: The prevalence of CAD was significantly higher in patients with CD than in the controls [5140 (8.7%) vs. 2119060 (4.4%), P < 0.001], with the odds ratio (OR) being 2.09 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.03–2.15, P < 0.0001). There was a similarly higher prevalence among younger patients (age, <65 years) with CD compared with those without CD (3.72% vs 1.98% [OR: 1.85, 95% CI: 1.7488–1.9417, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CAD increased nearly two-fold in patients with CD.