Relative Risk Chart Score for the Assessment of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the use of the relative risk (RR) chart score may help to identify young ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients at high risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease. METHODS: 73 AS patients younger than 50 years were assessed. CV risk was calculated according to the total cholesterol systematic coronary risk evaluation (TC-SCORE) and the RR chart score. C-reactive protein (CRP) value at disease diagnosis and carotid ultrasound data were also analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty (27.4%) patients exhibited carotid plaques being classified into the category of very high CV risk. None of them was found to have a high/very high TC-SCORE. CRP > 3 mg/L at disease diagnosis was associated with the presence of carotid plaques (odds ratio 5.66, p = 0.03). Whereas only 5 (14.2%) of the 35 patients with RR = 1 had carotid plaques, 15 (39.5%) of 38 with RR > 1 showed plaques. A model that included the performance of carotid US in patients with RR > 1 who had CRP > 3 mg/L allowed us to identify 60% of very high risk patients, with a specificity of 77.4%. CONCLUSIONS: RR chart score assessment may help to identify young AS patients at high risk of CV disease.