The Psoriasis–CVD Link: How Dermatologists Can Support Patients With Psoriasis and Comorbid Cardiovascular Disease
Explore comorbidities in psoriasis: focus on patients with cardiovascular disease with Dr. Jarell & Dr. Khattri.
Transcript:
AJ: We know that psoriasis is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but how? Why?
AJ: We know that some of the same mediators of that inflammation that we see manifested in the skin are causing inflammation within the vasculature.
AJ: We know that patients with psoriasis are up to 50% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease compared to those without psoriasis.
AJ: That's one thing that we should all take home because if we're thinking about managing patients with psoriasis and we forget about the fact that they could have an imminent heart attack, I don't think we're doing them a great service as providers to them.
AJ: Is there a role for the dermatologist and managing comorbid cardiovascular disease? We should be informing our patients that there is an association between cardiovascular disease and psoriasis.
AJ: Ensure that your patient is aware of this and that they're receiving care from a primary care physician or cardiologist at least for screening purposes.
SK: So I think as dermatologists, you know, yes, we, I mean, we don't, we might not have a blood pressure monitor.
SK: We probably are not expected to, you know, play the role of a primary care provider.
SK: But I think the least that we can do is, is tell our patients that there is an association with metabolic syndrome.
SK: Please see your primary, if you don't have one, find one. And that's like the least that we can do.
AJ: Yes. We should be looking for target ranges for hypertension, dyslipidemia, target blood pressure, lipid levels and calculating risk based on the fact that they have psoriasis and informing them that they have increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
References:
- Coumbe AG, Pritzker MR, Duprez DA. Cardiovascular risk and psoriasis: beyond the traditional risk factors. Am J Med. 2014;127(1):12-18.
- Elmets CA, Leonardi CL, Davis DM, et al. Joint AAD-NPF guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with awareness and attention to comorbidities. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019;80(4):1073-1113.
- Garshick MS, Ward NL, Krueger JG, Berger JS. Cardiovascular risk in patients with psoriasis: JACC Review Topic of the Week. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021;77(13):1670-1680.
- Hu SC, Lan CE. Psoriasis and cardiovascular comorbidities: Focusing on severe vascular events, cardiovascular risk factors and implications for treatment. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18(10):2211.
