Department of Dermatology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
PLoS One. 2021 May 7;16(5):e0250216. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250216. eCollection 2021.
Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune skin disease caused by chronic inflammation of hair follicles. Chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and lupus erythematosus can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, the relationship between AA and heart diseases (HDs) remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted this retrospective cohort study to evaluate the risk of subsequent HDs in patients with AA. We reviewed 3770 cases of AA and from 18,850 age, sex, and income level-matched controls from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort. In the subgroup analysis, patients who suffered from alopecia totalis, alopecia universalis, and ophiasis were designated as patients with severe AA and patients having the disease for over a year were designated as patients with long-standing AA. As a result, we found that AA was not associated with a higher risk of heart failure, angina pectoris, or myocardial infarction. There was no significant increase in the risk of overall HD associated with AA (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.17; 95% confidence interval: 0.93-1.48; p = 0.177). Neither the severity nor the duration of AA was related to an increased risk of HDs. During the study period, AA patients did not show a significantly higher cumulative incidence of HDs than controls (log-rank p = 0.157). In conclusion, AA does not increase the risk of HD.
斑秃（AA）是一种由毛囊慢性炎症引起的自身免疫性皮肤病。银屑病和红斑狼疮等慢性炎症性皮肤病会增加心血管疾病的风险。然而，AA 与心脏病（HDs）之间的关系尚不清楚。因此，我们进行了这项回顾性队列研究，以评估 AA 患者随后发生 HDs 的风险。我们回顾了来自国家健康保险服务-国家样本队列的 3770 例 AA 病例和 18850 例年龄、性别和收入水平匹配的对照病例。在亚组分析中，患有全秃、普秃和蛇行性斑秃的患者被指定为严重 AA 患者，患病时间超过一年的患者被指定为长期 AA 患者。结果发现，AA 与心力衰竭、心绞痛或心肌梗死的风险增加无关。AA 与总体 HD 风险增加无关（调整后的危险比：1.17；95%置信区间：0.93-1.48；p=0.177）。AA 的严重程度或持续时间与 HDs 风险的增加无关。在研究期间，AA 患者的 HD 累积发生率并未明显高于对照组（对数秩检验 p=0.157）。总之，AA 不会增加 HD 的风险。
