Incidence and risk analysis of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of our study was to determine the incidence rates and risk factors of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using a nationwide population-based data set.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database. Patients with SLE and age-, sex- and comorbidity-matched control patients without SLE were identified. The primary endpoint was the first occurrence of aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection. The incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated based on a 95% confidence interval (CI). A Cox proportional-hazards model was used to evaluate the risk factors for aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection in the SLE cohort.

RESULTS

Among the 15,209 patients with SLE (89.9% women and mean age of 38.3 years), 20 developed aortic aneurysm and 13 developed aortic dissection (overall incidence rate, 4.26 per 10,000 person-years). Compared with the control patients, the overall IRR for developing aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection was 3.34 (95% CI, 1.71-6.91; p < 0.001). The IRRs for aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection were 2.98 (95% CI, 1.41-6.70, p = 0.018) for women and 5.50 (95% CI, 1.10-53.15, p = 0.020) for men. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age, male sex, an SLE diagnosis greater than three years prior and hypertension were associated with aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection.

CONCLUSION

Aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection occur at higher rates in SLE patients than in people without SLE and a longer disease duration is associated with a higher risk of these rare vascular complications.