Association between sarcoidosis,pulse wave velocity,and other measures of subclinical atherosclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Clinical Rheumatology - Chronic inflammation from autoimmune diseases has shown to be a risk factor for atherosclerosis, subsequently leading to cardiovascular disease. Endothelial dysfunction is...     

Association between primary Sjogren’s syndrome,arterial stiffness,and subclinical atherosclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Clinical Rheumatology - In rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, cardiovascular disease is frequently one of the leading causes of mortality or morbidity. Studies have shown that...     

Risk of ischemic stroke in patients with systemic sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background. Several chronic inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and idiopathic inflammatory myositis, have been shown to increase risk of ischemic stroke but the data on systemic sclerosis (SSc) remains unclear.

Methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies that reported odds ratio, relative risk, hazard ratio, or standardized incidence ratio comparing risk of ischemic stroke in patients with SSc versus non-SSc participants. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird.

Results. Four retrospective cohort studies were identified and included in our data analysis. We found a statistically significant elevated ischemic stroke risk in patients with SSc with a pooled risk ratio of 1.68 (95% CI, 1.26–2.24). The statistical heterogeneity was moderate with an I² of 69%.

Conclusions. Our study demonstrated a statistically significant increased ischemic stroke risk among patients with SSc.