Systemic sclerosis and risk of cardiovascular disease: A PRISMA-compliant systemic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disorder leading to extensive fibrosis and microvascular injury. Macrovascular disease is well documented in other autoimmune rheumatic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. However, the link is unclear between SSc and macrovascular disease, particularly atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between SSc and CVD. METHODS: A thorough literature search was conducted in the Cochrane, Embase, Medline, and PubMed to identify all cohort studies comparing the risk of CVD with and without SSc. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of cardiovascular end points were calculated. The risk of bias of included studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. RESULTS: Seven cohort studies with a total of 14,813 study participants were included. In a comparison of SSc patients versus non-SSc controls, the pooled HR for cardiovascular disease was 2.36 (95% CI 1.97–2.81); for peripheral vascular disease was 5.27 (95%CI 4.27–6.51); for myocardial infarction was 2.36 (95% CI 1.71–3.25); and for stroke was 1.52 (95% CI 1.18–1.96). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis revealed that SSc was associated with an increased risk of CVD. Clinicians who manage patients with SSc should be aware of the increased cardiovascular burden and undertake preventive measures.