Increased subsequent risk of acute coronary syndrome for patients with dermatomyositis/polymyositis: a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to explore the possible association between dermatomyositis/polymyositis (DM/PM) and subsequent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) risk.

METHOD

We used data from the National Health Insurance (NHI) system of Taiwan to address the research topic. The exposure cohort contained 2029 patients with new diagnoses of DM/PM. Each patient was randomly frequency-matched according to sex and age with four participants from the general population who did not have a history of ACS at the index date (control group). Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were conducted to estimate the relationship between DM/PM and subsequent ACS risk.

RESULTS

Among patients with DM/PM, the overall risk for developing subsequent ACS was significantly higher than that of the control group [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-3.35]. Further analysis indicated a higher risk in patients who were male, older, or diagnosed with comorbidities.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings from this population-based retrospective cohort study suggest that DM/PM is associated with an increased subsequent ACS risk.